We recently asked some guys to test out the new Specialis and give us their verdict on how they performed. Here’s the first of the reviews and footage:

Hello.                                                                                                           

My name is Stephen and I’m a 23 year old art director from Manchester. I was asked by the guys at Umbro to test the new Speciali football boots. Their question was ‘What’s so special about the Speciali?’.

Together, with my mate Ben, we put together a series of videos that tested the boots in ways that were relevant to us. We both play Sunday league and 5-a-side, so we know what a battering our boots can get in the season: we’ve had to climb over fences to get to a pitch because the caretaker hasn’t turned up; we’ve had to run across car parks in boots because we’ve woken up late; we’ve had to play on pitches that don’t have any grass on them; we’ve had to wear boots in the pub because we forgot our trainers. Therefore it made sense to test the boot on different urban surfaces. We filmed this first video in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, using whatever ground we could find. I wanted to be sure these things could take a proper beating.

When I took the boots out of the box that first thing that struck me was the leather. The soft leather seems to mould around the shape of my foot, which helps if you have wide feet – like me. The boots also have a special thing on the laces (apparently called an ‘A Frame’) that adds stability when you tighten the laces, and makes the boot feel in full contact with your foot.

Then it was time to hit the streets.

After running on concrete, car parks, steps and the floor of a kebab house I couldn’t feel any pain in my feet. The boots have soft, thick soles so you genuinely can’t feel the studs coming through. Small details on the boot like the stitching also really stood out for me: after some real punishment there was still no sign of wear or tear.

So the Speciali passes the totally made up, but crucial, ‘Urban Environment’ test. You probably won’t be using them on concrete that often, but at least you know that if you do have to chase after your mum’s car because you left your shin pads in the boot, that you won’t be left in agony.

The potentially more relevant ‘Football Pitch Environment’ test is up next so come back to the blog later this week to see how the boots do.