Most Innovative Football Boot – Football Boot Awards Category Review

Today signals your last chance to vote in the 2007 Football Boot Awards, and also our final category review – Most Innovative Football Boot

The Adidas F50 Tunit 2 demonstrates innovation in the provision of different chassis to allow each player to tune their football boots depending on the weather, pitch conditions, or their own personal style. The ‘Pro Lite’ set up is favoured by many players, offering them increased speed and agility by reducing the overall weight of the boot. The lightweight synthetic climacool upper combined with the comfort chassis gives you a football boot with added breathability, comfort and superior touch.

The Hummel 8.4 Pio FGX was apparently inspired by luxury fashion goods, Danish modern furniture, and graphic print wallpaper! Could this be classed as innovative? We certainly can’t think of many football boot design’s based on wallpaper! A unique feature of the Hummel nominated football boot is its hmlFIT Customised Fit Technology heat mouldable sockliner. This allows the wearer a customised fit, producing maximum surface contact with the foot, ensuring fewer pressure points, and improved performance and control.

The Lotto Zhero Gravity was developed with innovation at the forefront of the design process. As the first lace free football boot on the market, the Lotto Zhero Gravity took three years to develop, with a 1 million pound investment! ‘Project Zhero’ has adopted extreme technology to create a football boot made for speed, comfort and agility and which provides excellent shooting precision and close sensitivity for control. The upper is made of water-repellent microfibre and thanks to the exclusive Pro-Fit technology, the boots guarantee a perfect wrapping of the foot. The external heel counter in Pebax provides greater stability, while the Dual Fit System, a double set of removable insoles, allows a personalized fit. The innovative Neo Switch sole is a new concept of fixed and interchangeable studs.

The Mitre Vortex Pro boasts waterproof vents and has the smallest low cut chassis making it one of the lightest and most breathable football boots on the market. Asymmetric micro lacing and a breather tongue further enhances the boot’s credentials. The external heel unit is made from Thermal Plastic Urethane (TPU) for extra stability and a shock impact insole gives good foot to ground comfort.

Cutting-edge technology is fused with unique design to produce the Mizuno Wave Shinken football boots. Mizuno use the latest software to analyse and design their products with the Wave Shinken featuring a Bio-Panel which is made up of individually shaped pads, that offers the player greater ball traction, speed and control. Mizuno’s wave technology in the heel allows for optimum cushioning and stability, whilst the removable sock liner also increases the cushioning effects. The kangaroo skin upper features asymmetric lacing, with a handy flip over tongue which allows the laces to be hidden away.

The innovation in Nike’s Total 90 Laser is seen in the design of a ‘sweet spot’, maximising shooting and passing accuracy through precision rings which control ball spin and trajectory. The rings have been sectioned to help add more aggressive contact to the ball, enabling the player to add height and swerve to the ball as desired. The waterproof eVent fabric allows improved breathability, whilst maintaining a constant temperature in the football boot.

The Nomis Glove promotes highly advanced technological innovation in its ‘Wet’ and ‘Dry Control’ and ‘No Mud Technology’ systems. Handling the Nomis Glove, the K leather is remarkably soft, but also feels ‘sticky’. The football boot is lightweight and the ‘Wet’ and ‘Dry Control’ systems help to create superior ball grip in both wet and dry conditions, providing better control, power, swerve, and performance. The ‘No Mud Technology’ is reported to reduce mud sticking to the outsole by up to 70%, and in our tests it certainly impressed. The Control Technology also leads to very low water absorbtion in the leather, resulting in lighter boots and drier feet in wet conditions.

‘Innovation’ could be one of the strap words for the Prior 2 Lever Assassin. As the world’s first fully customised football boot, the design process for each pair of Assassins makes use of the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) system allowing very precise individual designs to be made for both the left and right foot. Studs may be moved and placed, intrinsic structures built to dissipate peak forces, heel raises added, changing in fit from left to right foot, as well as providing different outsoles at the same time.

The Puma v.106 uses its last and lace wrap system to mould the upper to the contours of your foot. The weight is reduced by the insertion carbon fibre plate, whilst adding improved pressure distribution. The outsole integrates with the anatomical stud positioning and pointed soft ground studs, designed to offer the best grip, manoeuvrability and rear foot stability. If control is paramount, then the thin upper offers a great deal of feel.

The Umbro X Boot III boasts Touch Control Technology, powered by proven Michelin performance with Umbro’s enhanced Motion Control Sprint Last. In addition, its wishbone technology, enhanced with titanium construction allows for a football boot providing superior support and strength. Studies at Liverpool John Moores University showed that the Umbro X Boot III football boot provides 90% better grip than the competition in lightly damp conditions across a range of ball speeds. In addition, the Umbro X Boot III football boot gives 9% better grip in dry conditions. Overall, the tests showed that the football boot achieved better grip results than its rivals at every speed and every condition.

Remember if you haven’t voted already, today is your last chance to vote for your favourite football boots and to give yourself a chance of winning the top prize of a signed pair of John Terry Umbro X Boot Destroyer’s and a runner up prize of a pair of football boots each season for the next five seasons!