Knitted boots are the newest trend in football boots. Now, the name sounds funny and when I first heard of knitted boots I immediately thought of an old lady sitting in a ricking chair trying to knit a pair of Nike mercurials. This is not the case. Knitted boots are made from a synthetic fabric very tightly woven together to make the upper of a football boot. Its almost a combination of a running shoe upper and synthetic material. Because of this knitted boots require almost no break-in time and could almost be worn straight into a match … although I would advise against it.

The idea behind knitted boots is that they provide a sock like sensation, where you put them on and it feels like a second skin. The pair I have definitely achieve this even though I bought the wrong size… twice. Knitted boots in my opinion are an attempt to combine the benefits of both synthetic and leather in the one material.

Knitted boots tend to weigh about the same as synthetic boots if not a little bit more. But more or less the same, they are therefore associated with being lightweight. They have also been used to drop the weight on other boots that are marketed as “control” or “power” boots. Knitted boots tend to be quite slick so what brands have done is add a layer of silicone texturing to the outside of the boot in order to help add some extra grip on the ball. This although extremely minimal also adds a little extra weight.

Knitted boots do have some give in them although not nearly as much leather. If leather had 10/10 stretch and synthetic was 1/10 then knitted boots would be around a 3 or a 4. As such they, like synthetic boots may not be the best option for people with wide feet. However special mention to Puma who have created a boot that is almost fully customizable in terms of fit with their netfit technology. I am not going to get into to it and I have not tried the boots on because I am waiting for a white pair to emerge. But if you want to know what I am talking about just google Puma Future. So while they are not the worst fit for wide footed players they are not as good as leather either.

In terms of durability again knitted boots sit somewhere in between the other two materials. The yarns are not like clothing yarns where you will have loose threads everywhere, they are more durable than that. However most knitted boots are made relatively thin and this offers both minimal protection and in very minor circumstances may have a tendency to tear when tackled.

 

Football boot uppers (the part on top of the boot) are made of three main materials, leather, synthetic and knit. Some boots even use a combination of two different materials especially involving leather. I will be trying to compare them as objectively as possible as I have actually worn every material myself.

Let’s start with leather. Leather was the original material in a football boot and was what all football boots used to be made from. A leather football boot will provide a very comfortable fit, where the leather will eventually mold to the shape of your foot. I say eventually because leather does take some time to break in. in terms of touch on the ball, a leather boot will provide a slightly padded sensation and the more leather the boot has the more padded it will feel.

However, one of the downsides to leather is that compared to the other two it is comparatively heavy. The heaviest football boot on the market is around 310grams and the lightest is around 190g meaning a total weight difference of 240g across both feet. Now that doesn’t seem like a lot and it isn’t, but it also means that they are generally not marketed as light weight “speed” boots which is what a lot of people want.

Generally speaking, leather boots are also a good option for players with wide feet, This is because as mentioned above leather tends to mold to your feet over time. This also means that they will stretch and can even stretch up to half a size. This is good but it as well has downsides as sometimes the boots can over stretch leading to a total lack of responsiveness and even blisters because of how much your foot is slipping inside.

In terms of durability, leather also has downsides. While the overstretching can lend the boots to being unusable. The softness of the leather can be in some circumstances be prone to tearing or wearing away faster than other materials. Now, you can prolong the life span of a leather boot by properly caring for them with some leather balm, but this adds to the cost of owning a leather boot and most people including myself can’t really be bothered with it.