Tag: Europe

In most parts of the world, if you say the word “football” people assume you are referring to soccer, the most popular and most widely followed sport in the world. However, American football is starting to spark more interest overseas. The National Football League actively promotes American-style football out of the country, sending players as ambassadors and holding pre-season games in Europe, Mexico and Japan. Games are broadcast in many countries and the Super Bowl is broadcast to almost every country in the world.

American football is played in almost every continent on the planet including North and South America, Asia, Europe and the Pacific Rim nations. The International Federation of American Football is the official international governing body of American Football and oversees 45 member organizations. Beginning in 1999, the International Federation of American Football has also sponsored a world cup of American football with Japan taking the honors in both 1999 and 2003.

American football has also grown in popularity in Mexico, where many households are able to watch games on American television stations. There has been such interest in American football in Mexico that the NFL opened an office in Mexico City in 1997 to supervise fan development, marketing, public relations and special events. The NFL also publishes a Spanish-language web site targeted to Mexican fans.

American football is also gaining popularity in Europe. In 1991, the National Football League backed a European league called the World League of Football. From that emerged NFL Europe, a six-team league that serves as a spring developmental league for National Football League teams in the United States. Five of NFL Europe’s teams are based in Germany and one is in the Netherlands. The National Football League not only uses the NFL Europe to develop new players, but also to develop and test new rules and regulations.

American football has always been popular in Canada although Canada does have its own Canadian Football League which plays with slightly different rules than American football. However, the National Football League continues to reach out to Canadian fans. For Super Bowl XL, held in Detroit, just across the border from the Canadian city of Windsor, the National Football League held special events specifically for Canadian fans including a special train that transported Canadian fans to Windsor to view the game at an arena there. The National Football League also publishes a website for Canadian fans that focuses on the progress and statistics of Canadian-born players.

Football boots, called cleats or soccer shoes in North America, are an item of footwear worn when playing association football. Those designed for grass pitches have studs on the bottom to aid grip. Modern “boots” are not truly boots in that they do not cover the ankle. The first record of a pair of football boots occurs when Henry VIII of England ordered a pair from the Great Wardrobe in 1526. The royal shopping list for footwear states: “45 velvet pairs and 1 leather pair for football”. Unfortunately these are no longer in existence. >

In association football’s Laws of the Game, Law 4: Player’s equipment deals with football boots. Until 1891, any kind of projection on the soles or heels of football boots was strictly forbidden. The 1891 revision allowed both studs and bars, so long as they were made of leather and did not project more than half an inch, and they had their fastenings driven in flush with the leather. Studs had to be rounded, neither conical nor pointed and not less than half an inch in diameter. The leather studs were originally hammered into the boots on a semi-permanent basis and players would have several pairs of boots with different length studs, but in the mid-1950s Adidas introduced boots with interchangeable screw-in studs made of rubber or plastic for varying weather conditions.

Football boots were originally heavy boots with protection for the ankle, and these remained the standard style of boot in northern Europe for many years where the boots needed to stand up to the rigours of use on muddy winter pitches. A lighter boot without ankle protection and resembling a studded shoe became popular in southern Europe and South America where pitches were generally harder and less muddy and this eventually became the standard style.

The timeline of football shoes is as follows. During the 19th century, football became extremely popular in Britain. People who played would wear their heavy and hard work boots to play. These were the first ever boots with the steel toed cap at the front and the long laces and ankle support. These boots also had metal studs or tacks put in them at the bottom so the players would have more stability on the pitch. In the later period of the 19th century the first ever football boot was designed, made of thick and heavy leather which ran right to your ankle for increased protection, the first boot weighed 500g and would double in weight when it was wet.

Between 1900-1940 football boots style stayed very basic because of the second world war. However, in this period of time, many famous football boot producers such as Gola, Hummel and Valsport came about and were very popular. After the Second World War untile 1960s, the designs of the football boot changed dramatically and really started to make an impact on the game. The South Americans designed a more light and more flexible boot. This design was focused on increasing good control and better kicking power rather than a more protective boot.

In the 1960s the football boot technology really took a huge step, which saw many football boots designed with a lower cut. These enabled the best players in Europe and South America to move faster and change direction quicker. Then the next decade saw many great advances and changes in the football boot design. The 1970s saw technology produce many more light boots and a variety of colours too. In this decade, players started to get paid to wear a certain brand of boots.

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