Nothing gives us a better insight into the personality and attitude of a GAA player quite like the boots they’re wearing on their feet.
In training it’ll be the talk of the dressing room if a lad has a invested in a new pair.
“You went all out, didn’t you?”
In a match, when an opposition player is walking over to mark you, the boots they’re wearing will tell a lot about them.
We know what’s in store.
There are various brackets of boot-types and there are different personalities associated with each one.
1- The white boots –
The above are just an example, but any GAA player who laces a pair of white boots must be braced for the backlash. Teammates will scorn, “It’s not soccer we’re playing,” opponents will sledge.
The main criticism is that the man is soft.
White boot wearers don’t deserve to be labelled soft just because of their white boots. Ciaran McDonald wasn’t soft, Tipperary tank Pádraic Maher most certainly isn’t soft.
It does mean, however, that a player does care about how they look on the field. It goes against the age-old GAA tradition of wearing black boots, so any man who ventures into this territory wants to stand out and a bit of extra attention.
It shows they have balls, and they are their own man because they don’t care what other people say or think about them.
2- Black and white timeless classics (Puma Kings, Copa Mundials) – Football people claim that Copa Mundials were made for the 1982 World Cup… What a load of rubbish.
These bad boys were made for GAA players and GAA players only. They have outlasted every other fad in the GAA and they will continue to.
The fact that their price has stayed the same, or is even still being raised year after year is a truly fitting testament to their longevity.
It may say that a player is a hardy yoke. Your typical GAA player, he has manly pride and he has no time for the white boots.
It also shows that he likes to do the done thing, and may just follow the crowd.
Tipperary forward Eoin Kelly sported them throughout his career.
The same goes for Puma Kings, you just can’t go wrong.
3- Dark but flashy – Like the white boot wearers, these lads want to stand out. They enjoy looking good on the pitch, they’ll put some effort into their appearance. They just don’t have quite the same balls of steel that the fighters of the white fight have.
These types of boots, for example your Dark Predator Manias, your Adidas Predators, your Nike Magistas, your Adidas Gloros etc.
They are predominantly black or navy, but generally include some flashy colours. Borderline.
In a few years, who knows? these might take over.
4- Blackouts- A new trend. The wearers of Blackouts are the ultimate con-artists of the GAA.
These boots are all black, and as dark black as black could possibly be.
The older members of the team will think, fair play to the young fella, he’s like us in that he doesn’t buy into that white boots crack.
In reality, these lads are trying to be as flashy as they possibly can.
In the GAA, blackouts are slowly morphing themselves into the new white, it’s the new style.
These lads do care what they look like and they’re most certainly not flying the flag for the old-stagers.
It shows that boots really have come the full circle.
5. Soccer boy- This lad swans into the GAA world with a pair of…soccer boots.
How dare he? He wears fluorescent green, he wears bright pink, he wears luminous yellow.
How bloody dare he?
Stick to the soccer, boy.
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