It is a trend many believe was started by Jack Grealish — pulling football socks down to just above the ankle and wearing tiny shin pads that barely cover the lower leg.
‘It’s just his style,’ his former Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood said in 2015. ‘If he performs how I think he can, he can dress how he wants.’
The Manchester City star has rolled his socks down and worn children’s shin pads since his breakthrough and it has become a trademark others have replicated. Some, such as Grealish, wear small shin pads but instead keep their socks high.
Conor Gallagher is one example. He caught the eye with his miniscule shin pads, which were smaller than his hand, on his debut for Atletico Madrid. In fact, some modern-day shin pads are as small as the size of a bank card.
The first question many will ask is — are they dangerous? According to Bob Sangar, a former club doctor for Wycombe Wanderers, the answer is yes.
Players using tiny shin pads is a trend many believe was started by City’s Jack Grealish (left)
Conor Gallagher caught the eye with his miniscule shin pads, which were smaller than his hand
‘Some modern-day football boots have got sharp angled studs quite capable of slicing through a sock, skin and muscle,’ Sangar tells Mail Sport. ‘I’ve seen freak injuries.
‘So many times when players got a nasty kick or studs-up challenge on the shin or around the ankle, they wore really pathetic protection and seemed oblivious to the fact that those contact injuries can be substantial.
‘Last year we had a game at Bristol Rovers and one of our forwards ended up with a cut that required close to 30 stitches and he had to have a plastic surgical repair, and that was literally just a stud running down the outside of his leg.’
So, why do players take the risk of smaller shin pads? For some, having socks rolled down may be a fashion statement, while for others, such as Grealish, the reason is superstition.
The City man started wearing his socks low after they shrank in the wash during his Villa days. That season he performed well, so he continued to do it. But the main motivation seems to be comfort.
‘The answer for most players was, ‘We don’t like them, they’re uncomfortable, we can feel them’,’ Sangar explains. ‘Most elite athletes have a very high level of exteroception, where they’re very externally bodily aware.
‘Little things like a label on a shirt, the kit not fitting well or socks feeling tight around their calves influence how comfortable they feel.’
That theory is backed up by Mail Sport columnist Chris Sutton. ‘I used to wear the smallest shin pads I could,’ Sutton says. ‘I wanted to wear the lightest thing possible — and I imagine that’s current players’ thinking, too. You don’t want the clunky feel on your shin, you want to feel free when you’re playing.’
But shinpads the size of Gallagher’s dangerous could be dangerous for players according to a number of doctors
Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton (centre) is another player who wore small shin pads during his career
Sangar became so tired of seeing players wearing inadequate protection he decided to create his own ‘smart armour’ shin pad.
He worked with Krishan Hundal, a former innovations director at Marks & Spencer, to design a product which claims to provide comfort, breathability and protection thanks to a geometric design which absorbs impact.
The shin pad, which uses a special smart material, hardens instantly when you put it on and is said to last for ‘10,000 life-changing collisions’. It is worn by Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and Scotland international Che Adams, among others.
Shin pads have been mandatory since 1990 but there is nothing in football’s laws which states what size they should be.
‘It’s disappointing that players are allowed to play with the mini shin pads,’ says Sangar. ‘Young players look up to their idols, they see it as an example of what an elite athlete should be doing, and it’s a terrible example.’
Several grassroots clubs have moved to ban mini shin pads, with South Yorkshire side Penistone Church making the decision after a 15-year-old player suffered a double leg break while wearing them.
Interestingly, major brands such as Nike and adidas do not retail tiny shin pads. Sangar believes most footballers who wear them will have been gifted the products, while members of the public can easily get their hands on a pair through the internet.
‘None of them are sold by mainstream retailers,’ he says. ‘If they were sold by Sports Direct or JD Sport, the local trading standards would fine them — they’re selling equipment that is dangerous.’
Grealish has cited his superstitious nature as a reason for playing with rolled-down socks and mini shin pads
A new shinpad created by Bob Sangar and Krishan Hundal is worn by Scotland international Che Adams
Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo is another player who wears the new ‘smart armour’ shin pad
With football’s lawmakers insisting players are responsible for ensuring their own safety when it comes to shin pads, Sangar believes it will take a severe injury before anything changes.
‘We worry so much about the safety of players with concussion, I cannot fathom why there is less attention on the risk of serious leg injuries,’ he adds. ‘We wouldn’t send soldiers into the battlefield without body armour — but footballers will go on to the field wearing a shirt, shorts and that’s it.
‘This is going to keep happening until something very negative happens and then people will realise they should have done something sooner.’
