The Black soccer cleat, or black football boot if you are so inclined, is a classic in soccer footwear.  And much like the little black dress and little black book, the black soccer cleat has become almost a necessity for the soccer player.  OK, admittedly, the classic black soccer cleat has expanded its horizons to include whites, blues, greens and most every other color in the rainbow, but it is the black soccer cleat that was the inspiration for them all.

But where did this iconic part of soccer lore come from?  And what changes has the soccer cleat gone through over the years?

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England is the birthplace of the sport and so it is only fitting that the soccer cleat has its origins in England.  But the first recorded pair of soccer cleats was for a very unlikely player, King Henry VIII.  It is surprising that between marriage ceremonies, time on the hunt, time drinking and jousting that Henry VIII could find time for a match but he did order a pair of soccer boots from the Great Wardrobe in 1526.

The boots were made of leather, hand-stitched by the royal cordwainer, Cornelius Johnson, and cost King Henry the royal sum of four shillings.  There is not much more known about Henry’s passion for soccer and somewhat surprising he would take up the pastime as it was certainly not a gentleman’s sport with few rules and many fouls back in his day.

As the game grew in popularity in England over the next three hundred years and more and more workers took up the game it is not surprising that the football boot was just that; a factory worker’s leather boot (high top) with long lace.  To get a playing advantage, the worker’s boot evolved to include nails in the bottom to help with traction and no doubt serve as warning to other players trying to steal the ball away.

These early soccer cleats were very primitive by today’s standards.

The biggest changes to the classic black soccer boot have been most noticeable since the 1920’s.  And while there were other companies that made soccer cleats, the industry would be changed forever in 1924 when Adolf and Rudolf Dassler started the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory in Herzogenaurach.

The company’s first boot was geared toward bobsledders but Adolf, known as Adi, had a love and passion for all sports and quickly developed a soccer cleat that had 6 or 7 replaceable, nailed studs, which could be changed according to the weather conditions of play.

The soccer cleats of the early twentieth century where more of a protective piece of equipment rather than a performance enhancing item.  The game changed in the 1940’s and 50’s, however, as the game took on a global nature and with it the design of the soccer cleat.

The flair and footwork of ‘Jogo Bonito,’ the beautiful game, from South America took the world by storm bringing with it a need for a lighter more foot fitting soccer cleat that allowed for better touch on the ball.  It must be remembered that most of these South American players grew up playing barefoot and so were not accustomed to such a clunky burdensome boot still in use in Europe.

These changes dramatically affected the design of the boot but a family fued between the Dassler’s in 1948 changed the business landscape.  The argument resulted in the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory being closed but in the process created two new players, adidas headed by Adi Dassler and across town Puma, headed by Rudolf.

The competition on the field was probably not as fierce as the competition between the two brothers.

In the early 1950’s both brothers claim to have developed the first soccer cleat with replaceable and interchangeable studs.  But it was Adi who made the greatest impression with this new feature at the 1954 World Cup final.

After losing to Hungary in the group stage 8-3, West Germany was the huge underdog when the two sides meet in the final.  The weather would play in their favor as a drizzle turned to a downpour before the match and seeing potential problems with footing Adi Dassler was prepared and replaced the West German black soccer boots with longer cleats than the standard length to help with traction.

The rest is history as West Germany went on to win 3-2 and hoist the Jules Rimet trophy in what has become known as the ‘Miracle at Bern.’

The push to develop lighter, more flexible, more controlling black soccer cleat has been ongoing but adidas has been the major player ever since that World Cup final and Adi’s vision and preparation which helped West Germany win.

At the 1966 World Cup, 75% of the players were wearing adidas soccer cleats but Puma was holding their own with Brazil’s Pele wearing their brand and other brands starting to make soccer cleats, such as Mitre.

The 1970’s saw boot makers start to push more to market their soccer cleats through professional endorsements. Pele, who had worn Puma soccer cleats for years, helped Brazil to the 1970 World Cup title wearing the recently introduced Puma King.

Adidas made a lasting mark as well in 1979 when they introduced the Copa Mundial, the best selling soccer cleat of all time, made with an upper support of Kangaroo leather.

Italian company Diadora started to make soccer cleats in 1977.

The focus for years had been on a lighter soccer cleat with more flexible sole but the push for an even better black soccer cleat was made in the 1980’s when former player Craig Johnston started looking for ways for the boot to provide better control to the player and increase the ‘sweet spot.’  The boot he was working on was finally released in the 1990’s and known as the adidas Predator.

The 1980’s saw football boots being made for the first time by English company Umbro, Italy’s Lotto and Spain’s Kelme.

The biggest change since the Dassler Brothers started making soccer cleats happened in the 1990’s when Nike joined the game.  The Oregon based company started with a focus on running shoes but quickly started to expand.  They introduced the Nike Mercurial soccer boot, weighing in at just 200g, in 1998 and have been a major player since that time.

The push to create an even better black soccer cleat continues with each company looking for a competitive edge and to think that it all started back when Henry VIII wanted a specialty pair of boots!

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