November Pick-Ups

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Just received this albumen photo from England. I assume it is soccer, but no cleats on shoes and the hats don't make much sense.

The hats were part of the uniform, though not used during play. The knit stocking cap was common as was the cricket style cap.

As for the boots - from a site on the history of football boots:

Players would wear their hard, leather work boots, which were long laced and steel toe-capped as the first football boots. These football boots would also have metal studs or tacks hammered into them to increase ground grip and stability.

As laws become integrated into the game in the late 1800’s, so saw the first shift in football boots to a slipper (or soccus) style shoe, with players of the same team starting to wear the same boots for the first time. Laws also allowed for studs, which had to be rounded. These leather studs, also known as cleats, were hammered into the early football boots, which for the first time moved away from the earlier favoured work boots.