Soccer players wear shin guards during a soccer match. In this blog, we answer frequently asked questions about this protective equipment.
The following questions are answered in this blog:
Read on to get answers to all above questions.
Wearing shin guards during a soccer game is mandatory. If a player does not wear them he may not participate in the match. Therefore, the referee will send him off the field if he sees that the player is not wearing them.
There are several reasons why wearing shin guards during a match is mandatory.
The main reason is because players need to be protected. Without shin guards, the shins are very vulnerable to injuries.
Because soccer is a contact sport that often involves sliding the shins are at extra risk. Because a slide can be quite hard, serious injuries can occur if shin guards are not being worn.
It would also be unfair to opposing players if an opposing player did not wear shin guards. They might start treating the player differently if they know about this. For example, they may not dare to make a tackle anymore because they are afraid of injuring the player. This may ultimately benefit the player not wearing the shin guards.
Like the field players, the goalkeeper also wears shin guards. A goalkeeper wears them for exactly the same reason as his fellow and opposing players. In fact; a goalkeeper is often more likely to suffer shin injuries than the other players.
This is because a goalkeeper has the most dangerous position on the field. Learn more about this in our blog What is the most dangerous position in soccer?
Which shin guards are worn by a goalkeeper is entirely up to the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper is not obliged to wear different shin guards than the other players.
As you have read above, a goalkeeper runs quite a risk of getting injured during a game. Therefore, some goalkeepers choose to wear extra high shin guards. These start at the bottom of the ankle and reach to just below the knee. Because these shin guards are a lot longer, they protect a larger part of the lower legs.
A defender, like all other players, is completely free to choose which shin guards to wear.
Like defenders, a midfielder is completely free to choose which shin guards to wear.
Attackers, like defenders and midfielders, are free to choose which shin guards to wear.
Did you know...
Did you know that strikers are the most likely to suffer an injury during a game? You can read more about this in our blog Top 5 Soccer Positions With The Most Injuries.
Referees do not wear shin guards when they have to referee a game. This is not necessary since they make little to no contact with players.
Occasionally a referee may come into contact with a player. However, the chances of them sustaining an injury to the shins in the process are negligible.
However, the choice is entirely up to the referee. He may just wear these if he would like to.
During training sessions, it is not mandatory to wear shin guards. A training session can consist of several elements. For this reason, they often only need to be worn for some parts of the training. As soon as positional play, rondo or practice games are played, for example, it is important to wear them. During a warm-up, for example, it is not necessary because you are not in contact with other players.
You've probably seen soccer players walking with tape around their legs. Some have it at the ankles, some just below the knee and some on both places.
The reason they wrap tape around their lower legs is to ensure that the shin guards stay in place. In fact, many soccer players use loose shin guards. These are simply two loose plates that they tuck into their sock in front of the shins.
If they do not use the tape, there is a chance that the shin guards will sag or fall out of the socks during a slide.
The tape (also called socktape) comes in many different colors. Because the tape is often the same color as the socks, it does not stand to be noticed at all.
Since 1988, the world soccer organization FIFA has forced players to wear shin guards.
The league's medical committee had found that bleeding shin wounds were the most common injuries. However, protecting the shins from these injuries was not the reason they became mandatory.
In fact, the reason for wearing them was to protect soccer players from AIDS. FIFA was afraid that players would contract the virus if they were treated for a bleeding shin. Yet, before that, no player had ever been infected after suffering a shin injury.
Want more information on this? Then click here for extensive article on this.
Shin guards were invented in 1874. Sem Weller Widdowson, a Nottinghamshire cricket player as well as footballer for Notthingham Forest invented them. The first-mentioned sport was the reason he started wearing the shin guards.
Shin guards are not only worn in soccer. Below is a list of sports in which they are also worn:
Below is a list of famous soccer players and which shin guards they wear.
What shin guards does Messi wear?
Messi wears the Adidas X Pro Shin Guards.
What shin guards does Ronaldo wear?
Ronaldo wears the Nike Mercurial Lite SuperLock ShinGuards.
What shin guards does Neymar wear?
Neymar wears the Puma Neymar Jr Ultra Ligh Shinpads.
What shin guards does Mbappé wear?
Mbappe wears the Nike Mercurial Lite Shin Pads.
What shin guards does Haaland wear?
Haaland wears the Nike Mercurial Lite Shin Pads.
What shin guards does Salah wear?
Mohamed Salah wears the X Speedportal League Shin Guards.
All players wear shin guards from the brand by which they are sponsored. Messi plays with Adidas shoes and therefore also with Adidas shin guards. Ronaldo is sponsored by Nike and therefore plays with Nike shin guards. Neymar plays with Puma shin guards since that is his clothing sponsor.
The players are paid for wearing the shin guards.
In addition to shin guards, there are numerous other protective equipment a soccer player can wear. Consider, for example, a face mask, a helmet and sliding shorts.
Curious about all the different protective equipment a soccer player can wear? Then read our blog What protection does a soccer player wear (a complete overview).
We hope this blog has answered the questions you had about shin guards. If your question is not here, you can always contact us. We are happy to help you!
Did you know that in addition to this blog, we have written many other blogs about soccer safety? An overview of these blogs can be found here.