World Cup football has always influenced fashion, lingo plus trends.
This year, the jerseys have a wider neck opening although some teams have stuck to the traditional round neck styles. But the boots have undergone a radical transformation - the colour pink is currently dominating with the rationale that this shade creates the right contrast with the green field. That pink boots stand out is of course beyond debate, but it could have been red too.
Red boots have been used in the past, but they never dominated the World Cup at any stage. Back in 2014, the trend was to wear two different coloured boots. This was done to confuse the opponent player, we were told. In the end, that was just a marketing gimmick - two different shades worn by one player often drew the attraction of the audience. Maradona, who popularised Puma King boots, had the habit of taking the field for a pre-match warm up session with his boot laces undone. Naturally, this raised curiosity and the cameras always focused on the boots.
Later, it was found thatshoelaces were kept untied deliberately to ensure the cameras present showed the boots. In 2014, we also saw the rise of the ankle high boots which were supposed to ensure snug fitting. Looking at the pink boots got me thinking about the evolution of the football shoes in the last forty years plus how they evolved in Bangladesh.
Copa Mundial dominated the 80s: Perhaps the most famous boot is the Copa Mundial which came to the market in 1979. These boots were widely worn at the 1982 World Cup which also introduced the famous ball, Tango. In Bangladesh, football at that time was the major sport with filled galleries for local and international matches. In 1978, Bangladesh hosted the Asian Youth Championship in Dhaka which increased the country’s profile as a football loving nation.
While the sport was dominated by a wide range of stars like Chunnu, Salahuddin, Joshi, Tutul, Babul, Manik, Kamal, Abul, Ilias, Amily and others, finding reliable boots in the local market was a challenge. Football in the early 80s was the major sport, played across the country but the league was not professional, the income modest.
Footballers faced an uphill task to get better quality boots. Those who went to play abroad with the national side usually came back with several pairs, selling the extra ones to other players. The local market provided copies of Copa Mundial, priced Tk. 150 in 1984 while boots by a company called Globe sold between Tk. 120-Tk. 150. Other copies were sold for as low as Tk. 70.
Footballer Yusuf Bhai sensed that if a local company made better quality copies, then footballers would be benefitted plus the manufacturer would be able to run a sustainable business. In the mid-80s, Yusuf Bhai marketed his collection - better quality Adidas copies which also included Adidas turf sneakers. White with three blue stripes, the turf ones were used by retired players and amateurs.
A rain soothed afternoon around June 1984 remains a landmark moment for this writer and his younger brother as we were gifted two pairs of boots by our beloved cousin who took us to the shop Bangladesh Sports in Gulistan.
Naturally, there was a distinction between desi and bideshi boots and those who were lucky enough to wear the latter version were treated with veneration on the field. A foreign boot wearing player on the field got more passes and his mistakes often overlooked.
In 1987, while scouring the stadium market, I noticed a pair of six spike foreign boots priced at Tk. 1500 �" a massive amount back then. Taking a loan from a friend, bought the pair not knowing that six spikes should be used on soggy and muddy pitches. Obviously, while playing on a rough terrain, I had difficulty running.
At that time, boots were mostly black and white with Puma copies featuring the logo either in blue or yellow. There were two categories: Thirteen (13 spikes) and Six (six spikes).The dominance of black and white continued up to the turn of the century when Diadora boots became the first widely available foreign boots in the country.
Soon, Lotto came with a wide selection. I got one pair for Tk. 1800 and after a match, got the ultimate compliment: “you played a Tk. 20 lakh game with your Tk. 1800 pair of boots.” There’s a reason behind the Tk. 20 lakh comparison. Up until then, the highest amount paid to a local footballer was Tk 20 Lakh, the player being the late Monem Munna.
Millennium triggered a revolution in boots: With the turn of the century, all traditional templates were set aside �" boots came out in different styles, some with conventional laces others with rubber band ones and the explosion of colour was mind blowing. Red, white, violet, yellow there was no limit to what a pair of boots should look like.
For some time, the colour white dominated with multi coloured contrasts becoming the rage later one. The price shot up with players spending Tk.5000 to Tk. 10,000 for a pair. If memory serves me correctly, the one Messi wore in 2018 was selling for Tk.35000 at a local store.
But Chinese and Indian boots came to the market around 2010, bringing affordable first grade copies and Indian brands to footballers. Bluntly speaking, most internationally branded boots have Chinese copies which are sold between Tk. 1000 and Tk. 3500 while Indian ones can be bought within Tk. 1500. The most attractive feature of modern boots, whether high or low priced, is that they are water- proof.
If memory serves me correctly, in 1986, during the World Cup, BATA also introduced football boots, which were later discontinued. Pink boots will soon be on sale in the local shops, especially at the Gulistan sports market.
Heaven knows what will come next! For the time being, let pink be the colour of football passion!
The writer is a journalist
