Football; "the beautiful game." Like any other team sport, the players on the pitch are unified, like the fans, by a shared uniform. While their unique skills and individual finesse are what make them shine, it's their boots, leading the ball across the pitch, that offer stylistic flair to their volleys and rainbow flicks.
While Nike and adidas' jerseys are the connective tissue of teams across Europe's top leagues, as well as the Euros and World Cup, it's New Balance dominating the on-pitch style with its signature boots and collaborations.
If you asked fans of the Premier and Champions League to name the biggest kit sponsors in the sport, they'll undoubtedly, resoundingly call out the Swoosh and Three Stripes. Sure, you may hear the odd Castor if you're conversing with Newcastle fans, but the sneaker giants are hard to shake in the sport.
While many players that have put the work in to earn a boot sponsor have leaned into the same realm as the logo that sits on their chest, there is a crock of exciting young talents making up New Balance's roster, helping to skyrocket the brand to the top of the league.
Throughout football history, highly stylized boots have been at the center of countless iconic moments.
From Ronaldo's signature R9 Nike Mercurial boot to Zidane's gold adidas Predators and CR7's Nike Mercurial SL, boots are as impactful as the players that wear them.
New Balance is shaking up the status quo, inserting itself into future football history through Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka, and, most recently, Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze.
Through its roster of high-flying young talents – each of which has been bestowed with a slick signature boot representative of their journey in the sport – New Balance has fast become the stylistic face of iconic sporting moments.
For Eberechi Eze, who looks to be one to watch, this manifests itself in the form of a blue and green Furon v7 that takes design cues from star constellations.
Perhaps New Balance's biggest moment so far was delivering a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Stone Island, fronted by Raheem Sterling, that wore the boots during England's FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign.
Clearly, New Balance is on a mission to break into football in a bigger way than ever, shaking up the competition and pitching itself as a center point of on-pitch style.
Who knows, maybe we'll even see a season where its jerseys dominate, too.
