The football boot finder picks boots based on where your foot pinches. Answer a few short questions and it weighs your complaint, your surface and your size against our fit rating of each model, then returns a top three with a reason and a size tip for each.
How does the football boot finder work?
You start by saying who the boots are for, you or your child, and your size if you know it. Then you pick where it pinches: a wide forefoot, a very wide foot, a high instep, a narrow foot or a heel that slips, or flat feet. If you do not know, the finder asks three yes or no questions to work it out for you.
Next come your width (estimate it, measure it or skip it), your surface, and optional preferences for material, fastening and brand. You can step back and change an answer at any time.
What do the questions mean?
The question about where it pinches matters most, because each complaint needs a different boot. A wide forefoot needs a roomy ball of the foot. A high instep needs a separate tongue with deep lacing. A narrow foot needs a snugger heel, and flat feet need a stable boot with room for an insole. You can pick two complaints, and the first counts most.
Your surface sets the soleplate: FG for firm grass, SG for soft ground, AG for 3G and 4G pitches, TF for astro turf and indoor for five-a-side. A boot without a suitable soleplate never appears in your top three.
How is the score worked out?
Every model has a rating from 0 to 3 for each complaint. First the boots that cannot work drop out: the wrong soleplate, or a score of 0 on your main complaint. With a wide foot or a high instep, laceless boots get no fit points unless you allow laceless yourself.
The rest are scored out of 100, mostly on fit for your complaint, with your main complaint counting more than your second. Your measurement, your preferences and how sure we are of the rating count too. For a very wide foot, an official wide fit version such as a New Balance 2E gets a bonus. Commission plays no part, as explained on how we rate fit.
How do you measure your foot?
Measuring is optional but sharpens the result. Do it in the evening, in your playing socks, and use the larger foot.
- Stand with your heel against a wall, on a hard floor, on a sheet of paper.
- Stand upright with your weight evenly spread.
- Mark your longest toe and measure the distance to the wall for your length.
- Trace your foot with the pen held upright, mark the widest points and measure between them for your width.
Our guide to measuring your foot width has more detail.
What can the finder not do?
It gives fit advice, not a diagnosis. If you have lasting pain, or trouble in the foot, ankle or knee, see a GP or a podiatrist. A result is a good chance of a good fit, not a promise, as a model can fit differently by colourway or generation. Spotted a mistake? Tell us on the contact page.