Soccer Game changers #1
adidas bears its teeth: The Predator
The first in this series focuses on a boot that launched both a revolutionary style and the fortunes of some of its illustrious wearers.
The ‘Predator’ was the brainchild of ex-Liverpool player Craig Johnston, who decided to attach rubber from table tennis paddles to the toe area of the shoe to enhance the contact that it had with the ball. Some suggest that he hoped to create ‘spring’, thereby increasing the speed that the football travelled after impact; others believe he wanted to add ‘friction’, in order to alter trajectory. Either way, the prototype was initially unilaterally rejected until Bayern Munich’s Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenenigge saw potential and convinced adidas to reconsider their stance.
The German manufacturer morphed the aesthetic, creating four strips of triangular-shaped fins that ran across the toe which promised enhanced power and swerve. (The name was presumably in reference to the resemblance of rows of teeth.)
At the 1994 World Cup — the same year as its launch — sixty per cent of players wore the Predator. By 1998 adidas’s marquee athlete Zinedine Zidane (pictured) scored the tournament’s winning goals, albeit with his head, and cemented the style in the affections of players around the world.
The Predator’s allure was boosted hugely by David Beckham whose exceptional natural ability to swerve the ball was, in part, attributed to be the unique design.
Changes came over the years, such as an extended overlapping tongue, different side stripes, and the introduction of additional colourways. Amazingly in 2000 the ridges were removed altogether! Yet two aspects remain: firstly, upon its retirement in 2015 the Predator was the most successful boot franchise in history. Secondly, it remains an evocative design that prompts a giddy nostalgia from any child of its era. A true great.
Number 2: Nike Mercurial
Number 3: Puma King
Number 4: Copa Mundial
Number 5: Nike Tiempo
Number 6: Marta
