Football boots vs healthy feet: can we have both?
Why the best shoe for playing football might not be the best shoe for a growing foot
There is a footwear contradiction that I have become increasingly aware of since my five-year-old son started at a local football club this autumn.
With a background in sports science, biomechanics, sports therapy and Pilates myself, and a husband who is a chiropractor, we naturally find ourselves considering the shoes our children wear in terms of how they might affect their movement and developing feet.
Fortunately, in recent years there have been many more options for children with wider toe boxes and more flexible, low-profile or “zero-drop” soles. BGreater, Bobux and Vivobarefoot are well known examples, and even mainstream brands such as Next are starting to offer more foot-shaped styles. There are plenty of other options out there too.
Football boots are the first area where I have really struggled to find healthier-looking options.
I want my son to have the right equipment to play safely, enjoy himself and look the part. But I also want footwear that gives his toes room and allows his feet to move as naturally as possible.
The football boot dilemma
Football boots have a very specific job. They need to provide grip, stability and protection while a child sprints, changes direction, kicks and tackles. They also need to give the player a close connection with the ball.
If there is a lot of movement between the foot and the shoe, it becomes harder to feel and control the ball. So football boots have evolved to fit closely around the foot, with structured uppers and specialised soles designed for traction and performance.
The problem is that some of these characteristics are quite different from what we might ideally look for in everyday footwear for a developing foot.
The trade-off.... More space and freedom for the foot versus the close-fitting feel and grip needed for football.
I don't think the answer is to tell parents that children should never wear football boots.
Nor do I think we should pretend that a barefoot-style shoe will perform exactly like a conventional football boot on every pitch. However, I do think the football boot makers could be missing a trick here in not having some more foot shaped boots on the market.
Interestingly, I have discovered that I'm not the only parent thinking this way.
I've spotted other children at my son's football club wearing barefoot-style trainers and astros instead of conventional footbal boots. As someone who has worked in sports therapy and now co-owns a chiropractic clinic, I might have expected to be in a niche of parents who are specifically looking for barefoot style options. however, it seems that in the health concious, active football parent community locally there are many others unable to find quite what they are looking for for their childs feet.
Feet are designed to move
Our feet are remarkably sophisticated structures. Each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, all working together to absorb load, adapt to the ground beneath us, provide propulsion and give our brain information about where we are in space.
Our toes aren't simply there at the end of our feet. They form part of the foot's ability to adapt to the ground and contribute to balance and propulsion.
Yet many modern shoes place the foot inside a relatively fixed shape, rather than allowing it to determine the shape of the shoe.
This is particularly interesting in children, whose feet and gait are still developing.
Research does show that footwear can alter children's gait and other biomechanical measures, and that factors such as sole flexibility, hardness and shoe design can make a difference. Even a sock has been shown to stop toes moving properly after only half an hours of wear.
The evidence isn't strong enough to say that one particular type of shoe is universally best for every child. What does seem sensible is to pay attention to fit, shape and flexibility.
If a shoe is narrow across the toes, the foot has nowhere to go. If it is excessively rigid, it can't move in the same way as the foot underneath it. That doesn't mean all supportive or structured footwear is bad. It means we should think about what the shoe is actually asking the foot to do.
Of course, footwear is necessary. Modern life is very different from the environment in which our feet evolved. We walk on pavements, spend time on artificial surfaces and participate in sports that place very specific demands on our feet. Shoes protect us. They provide grip. They keep us warm and dry. And in sport, they can give us capabilities that going barefoot simply can't.
The question isn't whether children should wear shoes. It's what we ask their shoes to do.
What's the answer?
This is what I've started doing with my own son. For football on suitable surfaces, he wears barefoot-style Astro trainers from BGreater. He's loving them. They're clearly comfortable, he thinks they look great and, given the choice, he'd probably wear them all the time. They have a wider toe box, zero drop and a flexible sole, while still providing a sports-specific tread for grip.
BGreater currently describes its Marcus and Blake Astro as having a wider toe box, zero-drop flexible sole and sports tread. They aren't a conventional football boot — and that's exactly the point. They are an attempt to find a middle ground between foot-friendly footwear and something that actually works for football.
This may sound like an advert for this brand. It's just a brand we genuinely love as a family and we have tried several others. Our balance is that the kids school shoes and trainers for sport mostly come from BGreater and sometimes other barefoot brands. They last amazingly, the price is comparable to high street so you don't feel like you're paying more for "less" shoe and they keep innovating and coming out with great new products. When it comes to shoes for parties and social events we are more relaxed with the barefoot specifics. Although we would still steer away from thick soles, sandals without back straps and narrow pointy toes.
The compromise
As winter approaches, the equation may change. If your child plays on an artificial surface and is happy and secure in an Astro trainer such as the BGreater, great. But grass pitches can become a very different proposition as the weather changes. Wet, muddy or soft ground can require a different type of sole for adequate grip. What works on one pitch may not be appropriate on another, and this will vary between clubs and locations depending on the surface and conditions. If your child starts to need more grip, this is where the compromise comes in. The good news is that for a young child playing football once or twice a week, we're generally talking about a relatively small amount of time spent in conventional football boots — particularly if they are only worn for the football itself rather than all the way to and from training.
So perhaps the goal doesn't have to be finding one perfect shoe. Perhaps it's about making sensible choices across the week. If a child spends most of their time in comfortable, foot-shaped shoes, a few hours in a more structured football boot may be a very different proposition from wearing restrictive footwear all day, every day.
It is also worth remembering that moving between very different types of footwear can feel strange initially. If your child is used to a flexible barefoot-style shoe, a stiff, close-fitting football boot may feel more noticeably different.
Are there any better football boots?
Fortunately, football boots aren't completely black and white either. There are now some genuinely interesting alternatives.
Joma, for example, has produced a junior Evolution Barefoot football boot with an anatomical last, spacious toe box, flexible upper and zero-drop rubber sole. There are also conventional children's football boots that have been designed with comfort and flexibility in mind. Decathlon's Kipsta range, for example, includes models developed with podiatrists and features wider uppers and flexible soles in some junior boots. And there are specialist brands such as Natur Athletics producing foot-shaped cleats for children and adults.
The football boot market may take a little while to catch up with the barefoot movement, but it certainly seems to be starting. And I suspect if a mainstream brand
develops a football boot that genuinely combines a natural foot shape, plenty of toe room, flexibility, protection and excellent grip, there will be plenty of parents interested.
What should parents look for?
Whether you're buying football boots, school shoes or trainers, there are a few simple principles worth considering.
1. Width
If your child has wider feet, make sure the shoe actually accommodates them.
Don't just go up a size to get more width. A shoe that is too long can make it harder for a child to move confidently and securely.
Look for a shoe that is wide enough for the child's actual foot.
2. Toe box
Look at the shape of the shoe.
A foot-shaped shoe should generally allow the toes to sit comfortably rather than forcing them into a pointed shape.
The widest part of the shoe should correspond reasonably well with the widest part of the foot.
3. Sole
It's tempting to assume that thicker means more comfortable.
But more cushioning isn't automatically better for every child or every activity. Children also need to be able to move and adapt to the ground beneath them.
For everyday shoes, a sole that is appropriately flexible and not unnecessarily bulky can allow more natural movement.
For sport, however, the demands are different — which is why choosing the right sole for the surface matters.
4. Flexibility
It's easy to think that the more structure a shoe has, the more supportive it must be.
But the foot itself is capable of a huge amount of movement and adaptation.
For everyday footwear, allowing some of that movement seems a sensible starting point.
Perhaps the answer isn't choosing one or the other
I would love to see more football boots designed around the shape and movement of a child's foot. But in the meantime, I don't think this has to be an either/or decision. Football boots exist for a reason. They provide grip, protection and performance on surfaces where a barefoot-style shoe may not be appropriate. Barefoot-style shoes solve a different problem. For my own son, the compromise currently looks like this:
Barefoot-style shoes for everyday life. Barefoot-style Astro trainers when the football surface allows. Conventional football boots when the conditions genuinely require them.
It's not about being anti-football boot. It's about asking whether a five-year-old really needs to spend more time than necessary in one. Hopefully we'll continue to see more choice in this area as parents become more interested in how children's footwear affects the way their feet move. In the meantime, I hope this helps you make a slightly more informed choice — and, most importantly, helps your children get outside, run around and enjoy the sports they love.
