| Soccer players are gifted athletes with | | | | and skill with which the sport was being |
| physical strength and agility that would put | | | | played. Players began wearing a particular |
| many other sportsmen and women to shame. The | | | | brand of boot, Pele and Eusebio performed at |
| finely-tuned, committed professionals that we | | | | the world cup wearing Puma soccer shoes - |
| see playing in the World Cup Finals and in | | | | however, shoe sponsorships would reach a much |
| leagues across the globe have access to the | | | | larger scale in the 80s and 90s. Shoes become |
| most advanced designs of soccer shoe to | | | | lighter and more supple, made primarily from |
| enhance their performance. Since the first | | | | kangaroo skin and are designed specifically |
| ever pair of soccer shoes were produced for | | | | to accommodate hard, firm and soft ground. |
| King Henry VIII in 1526 for a cost of four | | | | |
| shillings, this vital piece of a player's | | | | The Copa Mondial, released by adidas in 1979, |
| equipment has evolved into a multi-billion | | | | went on to become the best-selling soccer |
| dollar business. | | | | shoe with its synonymous three-stripe design |
| | | | and fold-down tongue. The Puma King continued |
| In the late 1800s, the heavier boot style | | | | to sell well as other sportswear companies |
| gradually became replaced with a more | | | | entered the market including Umbro, Lotto and |
| lightweight shoe as the game changed from | | | | Diadora. But more was yet to come. |
| hobby to sport. In 1891, a revision to the | | | | |
| Laws of the Game allowed projection on the | | | | In 1994, adidas released the |
| soles of the shoe for the first time. This | | | | much-anticipated, revolutionary adidas |
| pioneering move introduced studs and saw the | | | | Predator. This soccer shoe broke the mould, |
| first incarnation of the modern-day soccer | | | | almost literally, with its 'polymer |
| shoe. Weighing half a kilogram, this thick | | | | extrusions' and bladed studs. Designed by |
| leather ankle boot would not offer the most | | | | ex-Liverpool FC soccer player Craig Johnston, |
| flexibility but offered much-needed | | | | the adidas Predator took the soccer shoe |
| progression from the steel-toe-capped | | | | world by storm as it claimed to increase |
| work-boots. | | | | swerve and power with the rubber moulds on |
| | | | the top of the boot. With player endorsements |
| The twentieth century saw a little progress | | | | from such global stars as Zinedine Zidane, |
| and various soccer shoe manufacturers | | | | Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne and David Beckham, the |
| starting mass-production including Gola, | | | | brand continues to develop and evolve the |
| Valsport and Hummel. In Germany, the | | | | design with such releases as the Predator |
| industrious Dassler brothers introduced the | | | | Precision (2000) and the Predator PowerSwerve |
| interchangeable studs to give wearers the | | | | (2007). |
| opportunity to adapt to different playing | | | | |
| surfaces and conditions. This developed | | | | Nike were one of the last global super-brands |
| further in the 1950s when soccer shoes were | | | | to begin marketing its own soccer shoes but |
| equipped with screw-in metal or plastic | | | | the company's designs and player endorsements |
| studs. | | | | have forced Nike to the top of the soccer |
| | | | shoe ladder. Nike Total 90s and Mercurial are |
| The Dassler brothers were to play an even | | | | their biggest selling designs and have been |
| larger part in the evolution of the soccer | | | | advertised by players of the ilk of |
| shoe then their previous work suggested. | | | | Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and |
| After a bitter dispute the two separated and | | | | Wayne Rooney as well as Brazil international |
| went on to form Adidas and Puma, now two of | | | | Ronaldinho. |
| the leading names in soccer shoe | | | | |
| manufacturing. In 1948 when the brothers | | | | The turn of the millennium also saw the |
| split their business, Adi Dassler formally | | | | introduction of soccer shoes of various |
| registered Adidas while Rudolph Dassler's | | | | colours, with players often wearing designs |
| company would become Puma. These two | | | | that were colour coordinated with their |
| companies were to become massive soccer shoe | | | | team's uniform. Various new designs have also |
| manufacturers producing classic designs like | | | | been launched including the Craig Johnston |
| the adidas Copa Mondial (1979) and the Puma | | | | P.I.G (Patented Interactive Grip) and the |
| King (1968). | | | | Lotto Zero Gravity laceless shoe but none has |
| | | | yet to make the impact of the Predator. |
| The 1960s and 1970s brought international | | | | However, it will only be a matter of time |
| superstars like Pele, George Best and Eusebio | | | | before a new style takes the world by storm, |
| to the world's attention - so soccer shoes | | | | and the soccer shoe that Henry VIII ordered |
| evolved to accommodate the increasing pace | | | | in 1526 becomes an even-more distant memory. |