PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL BOOTS OF THE SEASON

With the Premier League season at an end, we thought it would be a good idea to look back at some of the best performing players and their football boots of the year.

Well, it makes a change from flicking through holiday brochures with the other half and persuading her that nice though a trekking holiday through the foothills of Tibet sounds, 6 million beers over a 2 week period in Ibiza might be the better option.

Of course, these are just the choices of the Footy Boots office. Don’t forget, you’ll get your chance to vote on your personal favourites later in the year in the ‘Footy Boots Awards’. We’ll bring you more details on that over the next few weeks. For now, you’ll have to make do with our picks.

Attackers boot of the year – Nike Mercurial Vapor IV

Nike Mercurial Vapor IV

It’s pretty much impossible to go against the Mercurial Vapor IV after the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Manchester United star hit 41 goals this season in the Nike branded footwear, 31 of those coming in the top flight. Nike should also be proud of their achievements in keeping the Portuguese international more upright this season. Must be something to do with the patented Vapor Traction system. That or he just got a bit embarrassed falling over every time a butterfly flapped it’s wings in China. In what was a stellar campaign for Ronaldo, he won both the Footballers player of the year and PFA player of the year awards.

Midfielders boot of the year – Nike Tiempo Legend II

Nike Tiempo Legend II

It’s another win for Nike after the great season enjoyed by Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. OK, the campaign may have been half a dozen games too long for the young Spaniard but at times it was like he was carrying the entire Arsenal team on his own. In addition to his match turning exploits from the middle of the park, the PFA young player of the year also weighed in with 13 goals from 45 appearances.

Defenders boot of the year – Puma v-Konstrukt II

Puma v Konstrukt II

Despite injury problems, Manchester United stopper Nemanja Vidic played in 44 games this season and was instrumental in United conceding just 22 league goals all season, with just 7 of those coming at Old Trafford. The Serbian international only picked up 5 yellow cards as well, though he did manage to get himself booked in both internationals he played in this term. Not surprisingly, after helping United to the Premier league title and Champions League final, Vidic was named in the PFA’s Premier League team of the year.

Goalkeepers boot of the year – Umbro SX Flare

Umbro SX Flare

David James was a shoe-in (see what we’ve done there) for this award but there’s been a fair bit of confusion over his Kelme boots this season. James has been seen wearing blacked out boots with Kelme stickers as he’s currently working on the design of new boots with the Spanish company. So instead, we’ve gone for the Manchester City keeper Joe Hart. In a meteoric season, Hart became the City number 1 and got himself in to Fabio Capello’s England squad for the upcoming games against the USA and Trinidad & Tobago. Despite the off the field distractions surrounding Sven Goran Eriksson, Hart was instrumental in helping City to 9th place in the table. And brilliantly, he wasn’t in goal when they got creamed 8 – 1 by Boro on the final day of the season.

Best looking kit of the year – Adidas & Liverpool 2008 / 09

Adidas Liverpool kit

The new kit is in classic Liverpool red. An embroidered Liver Bird is positioned on the back of the shirt and the inner neck of the shirt has a red chequered area inspired by the flags of The Kop. The shirt also carries a “This is Anfield” inscription, inspired by the famous Anfield sign. Clean and simple – a bit like Jermaine Pennant before he starts a game.

Footy Boots Non Premier League choice – Diadora LX K-Pro

Diadora LK K Pro

The choice for this honour was enormous but in the end, sentimentality won the day as we went with the Italian war horse Francesco Totti. Roma have been excellent domestically and pushed Inter all the way for the Scudetto before finally falling at the last hurdle. Totti managed 14 goals from 25 league appearances (that’s a goal every 1.78 games) which isn’t bad for a 31 year old. He scored his 200th Roma goal in January and later that month was named as Italy’s player of the year for a fifth time.

Don’t forget to watch this space for details of the Footy Boots Awards 2008.


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