In August 2002, my son Tom was badly injured by an opponent wearing ‘blade’ football boots. The incident occurred while he was on an FA affiliated coaching course. During a match, Tom who plays soccer in goal dived at the feet an on-coming forward, who accidentally stood on Tom’s leg, leaving him with a gapping hole over 4cm long by 3cm wide. The entry point of the wound was in the less fleshy part of the inside of his right knee close to his knee cap and partially exposed the knuckle part of his femur. The angled entry of the blade stud had penetrated almost down to bone where the femur narrows. Fortunately he did not sustain any damage to ligaments or veins.
Approximately a week after the incident, a bad infection set in which resulted in so much swelling his stitches completely pulled through the skin. It was almost 8 weeks before he could comfortably bend his knee fully and was playing football again. He was 11-years-old at the time, he's 14 now and still plays in goal for his school and a local team. I recognise that in comparison to many of the now documented injuries, Tom perhaps got off quite lightly. His injury did however, alert me to the enormous potential ‘blade’ boots have for inflicting horrific damage. Since Tom was injured, I have accumulated a large amount of evidence from a great number of people, who question the use of ‘blade’ studs. These people are generally involved in soccer, and many are from the very highest levels of the game. It is a fact that the vast majority of the injuries presently being associated with ‘blades’ have occurred in soccer.
Currently ‘blade’ football boots are manufactured by more than fourteen different manufacturers. Some boots on sale to the public are in my view more of a risk than others. If you look at the differences between some of the earlier models of ‘blade’ boots, then compare those to the latest evolutions. You can see that one or two manufacturers have perhaps recognized their experiments with ‘blades’ were initially far too extreme. Although still predominately axe shaped, the latest versions of many of the metal tipped ‘blades’ have more rounded edges from new. Manufacturers have also devised new attachment methods for the replaceable ‘blades’. These revised attachment methods hopefully remove the potential, too in some cases expose a hollow cavity (almost like a little pastry cutter) if the ‘blades’ are allowed to wear down too far. It should however be remembered that following the examination of the boots that inflicted the horrific calf injury to Mark Patterson of Dover Athletic FC. Adidas said: Our tests show that there was some wear to the uppers, but the Traxion studs were found to be smooth, flat and rounded-off with no sharp edges (which is consistent with our wear test findings of our internal and external testing bodies).
Unfortunately retailers are still selling the earlier ranges of ‘blade’ boots and the replacement ‘blade’ studs they require, consequently many of these most dangerous boots are going to be in the system and in use for a good few years yet; as hand-me-downs, obtained from club boot banks, until the boots wear out, or until you can no longer purchase the replacement ‘blade’ studs. Even with the introduction of the revised ruling and advice to soccer referees regarding pre-match equipment checks (a step in the right direction), I don't think things bode well for the foreseeable future, particularly at grassroots level.
In addition to the lacerations being inflicted, there are also a number of views circulating that suggest there is an increased risk of injury to the wearers of ‘blade’ boots (Anterior Cruciate Ligament tears, ankle and groin injuries etc). Serious injuries to the wearers of these boots that it has even been suggested appear to occur more frequently at the beginning and end of the football season. Have by some been put down to player lack of fitness at the start of the season and possibly fatigue at the end of the season. I believe it is more to do with the fact that the football pitches at the beginning and end of the season in countries with a typical UK climate, allow these boots to perform to their optimum. They do exactly what they are designed to do by cutting into and gripping the ground more efficiently and consequently increase the chances of the studs sticking, resulting in the injuries described. However, in the winter months when our pitches become wetter and muddier that is when ‘blade’ boots appear to loose their performance benefits and can at times become almost as effective as wearing ice skates.
By reducing the cutting ability of an elongated ‘blade’ stud, due possibly to revised safety considerations (making them more rounded and less radical) you could conclude that you are then inhibiting the chances of the ‘blade’ studs slicing themselves free from the ground under rotational loads. This effectively nullifies one of the claims made by the manufacturers, i.e. that they help to prevent players studs from sticking in the turf. Consequently, the ‘blade’ stud configurations now on the soles of football boots may actually be exasperating and making worse problems already recognised with conventional studs.
Like most people who are or have been involved in soccer or rugby for any length of time, I am fully aware that conventional football boot studs and even rugby studs manufactured to British Standard Institute BS 6366:1983 (defining stud shape, dimensions and material used), can on occasion inflict very serious injuries, especially if they have sharp edges. However as I’ve previously stated, we need to recognise that ‘blade’ studs are designed to bite and key into the turf and then grip it more efficiently. It’s these same performance benefits that are in my view what make ‘blades’ more dangerous than conventional studs and make them more likely to key into and snag an opponents skin, resulting in a greater chance of severe ripping and tearing injuries. ‘Blades’ are meant to display superior traction and grip characteristics when compared to conventional studs, and in my view they do, but only when they are used on well manicured pitches.
The most worrying concern remains of course the horrific laceration injuries some of these boots, with metal or plastic ‘blades’ have the potential to inflict, with injuries that range from a soccer player who almost had a finger severed to another who thought he was going to bleed to death on the football pitch and who was in real danger of loosing his leg. Understanding the claims of the manufacturers of ‘blade’ boots, in terms of performance benefits against ‘safety of use’ in contact sports such as rugby and soccer, is somewhat of a conundrum. Additionally it is extremely doubtful if anyone, not even the boot manufacturers, associations or hospitals, really know the full extent of the injuries attributable to ‘blades’.
My younger son plays rugby at U12 level. Fortunately the rugby fraternity, for a number of reasons appear to be more discerning and conscious of safety and many clubs now actively discourage members from buying ‘blade’ boots with some banning them altogether. As a consequence ‘blade’ boots are no where near as prolific in Rugby as in Soccer and I hope it stays that way.
Les Shield |
