This Day in History: 2023-06-23

Nr. 482

ALAN BALL WEARS WHITE BOOTS (1970)

The World Cup winner Alan Ball became the first footballer to wear white boots in England when he played for Everton against Chelsea in the 1970 Charity Shield at Wembley. He had been made aware that the boot supplier Hummel wanted a high profile player to wear their white boots for a fee of £2000. «To be honest they were crap, like cardboard,» said Ball, «so I got the young apprentices to paint my Adidas football boots white. It was great, until one day it rained and the black came through. A not too happy watching Hummel rep saw what I’d done so I said goodbye to the two grand.»

After taking the money, Ball realized that his white boots were no match for his regular pair and turned to painting his old ones instead.