Soccer cleats evolved from workwear attire to the cutting edge of fashion and wearable technology. The history of soccer cleats is as rich and exciting as the players who wear them. From royalty to factory workers, there’s a reverence every player has for their cleats. A well-worn pair is a physical testament to a player’s legacy on the pitch. But how much do you know about your cleats?
Ever wondered why soccer cleats are still affectionately referred to as boots? Or what all the fuss is about with uppers? Let’s examine the history of cleats, the current landscape, and how the next generation is already here.
Fit For a King
Kicking around a ball for fun is an ancient and global concept. Maybe that’s why soccer was, is, and always will be the global sport. Some of the more recognizable features of football took shape around the 12th century in England and Italy. From those early roots until 1525, there is no documentation of anyone wearing specialized footwear for the game. We might still be playing in Oxfords if it wasn’t for famed football enthusiast King Henry VIII. That’s right, in between the English Reformation, marrying six wives, and angering all of Europe in the process, King Hank had time for a match here and there. He commissioned Cornelius Johnson to cobble a pair of rugged leather boots designed to protect his foot and provide a better grip on the pitch. The era of the soccer boot had begun.
Rule #13
The following 300 years of soccer footwear saw no significant developments. But as the game grew in popularity with the working class during the Industrial Revolution, many players simply wore their steel-toed work boots on the pitch. We guess there’s no time to go home and change shoes with a 14-hour work day.
The truly boot-based soccer boot wasn’t great for traction, though. The game became extremely dangerous as traction-seeking factory athletes began affixing metal spikes or nails to the bottom of their boots. This led to the English Football Association establishing Rule #13, which stated, “No one wearing projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta-percha on the soles of his boots is allowed to play.” Soccer boots seemed destined for stagnation.
The Dassler Brothers Brand
Rule 13 didn’t stop soccer’s explosive growth, nor the desire for the best traction imaginable. Enter soccer boots’ biggest step forward: Adolf and Rudolph Dassler’s Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory in Herzogenaurach, Germany, 1924. Though they first produced bobsled boots, they soon turned their attention to the booming sport of soccer. Their cleats were lighter, more comfortable, and featured replaceable and movable studs that could be arranged depending on the field conditions.
You won’t find any modern players in Dassler Brothers cleats, but not because these two stopped making them. A family feud led to the brothers parting ways in 1948, with Adolph founding adidas® and Rudolph creating PUMA.® Imagine stepping onto the pitch with the combined power of these legendary brands.
A Global Game With a Global Market
In the post-war years, several other European brands started manufacturing high-quality cleats. Soccer exploded in popularity in South America and remained popular in Southern Europe. Players who grew up playing barefoot in those dryer, hotter conditions demanded lighter and more agile cleats than had ever been seen. It was in the 1960s that the German brands began producing low-cut soccer shoes for the first time. This was the shift from soccer boots to authentic soccer cleats.
The emphasis on speed opened the door for a little track-shoe brand far removed from soccer’s cradle of innovation. They were called Nike®. They revolutionized soccer cleats by building a soccer cleat inspired by the speediest sprinters. Their entrance onto the global soccer stage coincided with synthetic fiber’s emergence. Lighter, more durable than traditional materials, and more customizable, they allowed eye-popping colors to grace the pitch.
Today’s Next-Gen Cleats
Adidas and Nike are still at the forefront of this race to the lightest, most legendary cleats imaginable. The adidas F50 soccer cleats go back to 2004, and though they were spun into the Crazyfasts and X silos for a time, they’ve been Messi’s signature boot through his record-breaking career. They’re always light, always fast, and now even more lethal with their grippy Sprintweb and Hybridtouch uppers.
Meanwhile, Nike has unveiled the latest Nike Mercurial Vapor 16 and Nike Mercurial Superfly 10s. The original 1998 low-cut lightweight Mercurials were made for Ronaldo, made even more legendary by C. Ronaldo, and now their high-top brother, the Superfly 10, are Mbappe’s gameday game-changers.
At SoccerPro.com, you can find the latest Nike, adidas, and PUMA soccer cleats. Browse our collection, and consider upgrading your cleats to a brand-new design. With stress-free returns you can count on getting the right gear for game day.
