Why Soccer Cleats Used to Have NAILS in Them

The history of soccer footwear is not for the faint of heart.

<p>Today's boots are lighter than a sandwich. The originals were heavy work boots — with steel toes and, yes, hammered-in nails or metal tacks for grip.</p>

<p>Early rule-makers had to explicitly ban protruding nails and iron plates, which tells you everything about what players were showing up in.</p>

<p>Leather studs became the standard, and boots slowly shrank from ankle-high armor to the slipper-like designs of the modern era.</p>

<p>Players once broke boots in by wearing them in the bath. Somewhere between the nails and the neon, soccer's most important tool became a science.</p>