Predator

Every Predator begins here. Former Liverpool midfielder Craig Johnston had an idea that sounded almost too simple: put rubber on the upper of a football boot, and let it grip the ball. More grip meant more control, more spin, more power.

adidas took the idea to market in 1994. Part rubber, part kangaroo leather, the original Predator looked strange — ridged, heavy-set, unlike anything else on the pitch. It didn’t matter. For the first time, a boot was sold on the promise that it could change what happened when foot met ball.

Everything that followed is a variation on this one idea.

Where it beganCraig Johnston: The Liverpool Midfielder Who Invented the adidas PredatorWho invented the adidas Predator? How Liverpool's Craig Johnston stuck table tennis rubber to a boot, and how adidas turned his idea into the Predator.Read the story →