SB Recap | March Madness - Football News

March 2014 will go down in history as a revolutionary month for football boot innovation. The concept of boot design, both visually and technologically took a dramatic turn as we saw Nike and adidas introduce knitted, hi-top football boots.

With the World Cup countdown picking up pace the boot launches have come thick and fast this month, so we've put together a re-cap of the best releases in case you missed any and to help decide which you think has been the top boot of a busy March.



Although not officially released in March, the adidas Samba Primeknit - 'The world's first knitted football boot' - launched right at the end of February and featured on pitch for the first time in March with a scoring debut courtesy of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez.

Inspired by the success and feedback of footballers wearing primeknit running shoes adidas set out to incorporate the technology into football with the main intention of creating a boot that combines the comfort and responsiveness of playing barefoot with the protection of a traditional design.



Kicking off the month 'proper' was the adidas Carnaval Pack. Dropped as the brand's next checkpoint on the road to Rio the new collection was inspired by feathers and ticker tape from Brazil's most famous festival weeekend. Four incredible designs landed across each of the silos - The Predator, Nitrocharge, 11Pro and F50.

All four silos featured a reflective treatment on the surface of the boot, which adidas say are designed to catch the light and spread it like Carnaval ticker tape on pitch. The feather design on the heel of each boot takes reference from the famous Carnaval costumes and completes each Brazilian inspired design.



The biggest boot release of the month was without doubt the Nike Magista. Launched in Barcelona as one of Nike's most anticipated boot releases ever the Magista arrived with a new approach on how football boots look and perform. The Magista's ground-breaking tech is the result of four years of research and development. There's not a lot left to say that hasn't already been said.

For the Magista launch we flew out to Barcelona to get involved in what Nike were hailing as a football revolution. "We've revolutionized football boots before and now we've done it again." The words of Phil McCartney, VP of Nike Football Footwear who took to the stage alongside Nike CEO and President Mark Parker.



Warrior joined in on the boot updates with the release of their new Gambler Pro colourway. The new blue/redcolour combo landed as Warrior's fifth Gambler colourway as the brand continue to muscle in on the football boot market and is currently being worn by Man United's Mauroane Fellaini.



Nike backed up the Magista launch by giving their boot collection one last collective colour update of the 2013/14 season. The HyperVenom, Mercurial, Tiempo and CTR were each given a Spring/Summer colour blast as we entered into the business end of the campaign and began to look ahead to the World Cup.



Mizuno updated their prestigious 'Made in Japan' edition Morelia Neo boots by dropping a splash of wine on the premium silo. The new wine/white/gold paint job combined signature aesthetics with top-end craftsmanship and the highest grade materials, to deliver the exact same specifications and processes offered to Mizuno's pro athletes.



To celebrate Leo Messi becoming Barcelona's all time leading goalscorer adidas created a signature pair of Messi F50 boots. Each of the 370 pairs were uniquely labelled #001 - #370 to represent each of Leo's goals along the way. Messi slipped his exclusive pair on against Celta Vigo and took just half an hour to hit the back of the net.



Another huge adidas release this month came in the form of the new adizero F50 Crazylight. The innovative boot scooped the title of the world's lightest ever football boot weighing an outrageous 135g. The bold chevron design is currently being worn by Gareth Bale who said; "Lightweight boots definitely give me an advantage over the competition and I feel faster and more agile the lighter the boots become. Hopefully I can score a few goals in them over the next few weeks.”



Nike dropped their second HyperVenom colourway of the month with a beautifully simplistic white/black/lime colourway. The slick colour combo landed as Nike's 9th HyperVenom paint job and provided a more conservative alternative to recent bright spring/summer release.



To celebrate 16 years of innovation, Nike used the build up to this summer's World Cup to roll-out their Mercurial 'Fast Forward' series. Inspired by Mercurial models of the last four World Cups, each iconic colourway was re-created for the current Vapor IX.

The series came to end in March with the release of the Mercurial Fast Forward 2010 editions. Inspired by the Superfly II boot worn in South Africa 4 years ago, the Fast Forward '10 editions are being worn exclusively by Cristiano Ronaldo.



March was rounded off as adidas dropped their final pre-World Cup boot collection. The Earth Pack was spread across all four silos with the visual design inspiration influenced by Brazil's famed rain forests. The new pack will be worn by adidas players up until the end of the domestic season.

What was your highlight of the month? Let us know. Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.