Adidas Predator are a range of football boots developed by German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, introduced in 1994.History of the Adidas Predator at Soccer.com The Predator boots are based on a prototype concept from the Australian former footballer Craig Johnston. A characteristic feature of the Predator range is the presence of rubber patches or strips on the top of the shoe, designed to increase friction between the boot and the ball. In late 2010, Adidas designed the new "Power-spine" technology, which they claim improves shot power by reducing the amount the foot bends back as it kicks the ball.
In 2014, Hungarian inventor László Orosszi won a court case against Adidas in relation to the Predator Precision range, forcing Adidas to pay royalties on that range of the boot.
The Predator line was discontinued in May 2015 for football,Adidas Discontinues Adidas Adizero, Adipure, Nitrocharge and Predator Boots on Footy Headlines, 5 May 2015 but was brought back in late 2017 to replace the ACE boots whereas the rugby line is still going strong. The new elite-level predator brought back by Adidas is named the Predator 18+, which features a prime knit upper with a laceless design as in Ace 16+ and 17+. The boost insole, which was used in the Ace 17+ was also used on the new predator. There is a laced variant which is also available.
Conception Footballer Craig Johnston retired from the game in 1988 to return to his native Australia to help care for his seriously injured sister. Whilst coaching a group of schoolchildren in Australia, he came across the idea of using rubber instead of leather to build ridges on the top of a football boot to, theoretically, aid control of the ball.
Johnston spent a lot of time and money developing prototypes and experimenting with designs. Those designs were rejected by various sports shoe manufacturers, including Adidas. He then persuaded German footballers Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Paul Breitner to be filmed whilst using his prototype football boots in snowy conditions. This was enough to convince Adidas to take up Johnston's design, buying the rights with Johnston receiving a 2% share of all sales.
History of the Predator models There have been 26 different Predator models, with a cheaper version without all the predator technology going by a different name. For example, the Predator Pulse's budget variant was called the Pulsado.
Predator (1994) Predator 1994 Rapier (1995) Touch (1996) Accelerator (1998) (worn by Steven Gerrard) Precision (2000) Mania (2002) Pulse (2004) Absolute (2006) [Rugby Version Released 2007] PowerSwerve (2007) [Rugby Version Released 2008] Predator X (2009) [Rugby Versions - Predator RX (2009)] AdiPower Predator (2011) Predator Kinetic SL (Elite Version) Predator LZ (2012) [Rugby Versions - Predator Incurza (2012)] Predator LZ 2 (2013) [Rugby Version - Predator Incurza 2 (2013)] Predator Instinct (2014) Predator Incurza 3 (2014)* Predator Incurza 4 (2015)* Predator Malice (2016/17)* Crazyquick Malice (2016 Version)* Predator Malice Control (2017)* Predator Flare (2017)* Predator 18 (2017) Predator 19 (2018) Predator 20 Mutator (2020) Predator 21 Freak (2021) Predator 22 Edge (2022) Predator 23 Accuracy (2023) Predator 24 Solar Energy (2024) Predator 25 (2025)
these models were rugby shoes, not football boots.
The eponymous Predator elements have developed over time. The principle behind the project, however, involves attaching rubber strips to the forefoot that Adidas says increases the speed of the ball. The initial focus in Predator commercials was on shooting strength, but this gradually move more to the effect on ball spin and precision. The first Predators were also available without Predator elements under a different name. While the Predators were made of black kangaroo leather with white stripes and red elements, the equivalent boots without Predator technology were black with white stripes and blue accents. The Precision equivalent, however, was black and white only, while the Supernova (Predator Mania without the Predator elements) was black with either silver or gold heel caps and stripes. David Beckham wore these boots for most of his career, as did Zinedine Zidane.
Original Predator The original Adidas Predator was made of leather. It featured rubber ridges. It only came in a few colours, black with white stripes and red accents. This colour scheme is now known as the main one for all predators. The first goal scored by a professional footballer using Predator boots in a top-level match was by John Collins for Celtic in April 1994. He scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw at Ibrox Stadium against Rangers, direct from a free-kick on the edge of the penalty box.
Rapier The Predator Rapiers were the first Adidas football boots available in different colors. Until then, the company's boots were all made of black leather. The Rapier, however, was also (as a limited series) available in white and red, as were the next two models. Beginning with the Mania, Adidas started to produce its Predator boots in countless color variants. Moreover, one color was called David Beckham's style.
Touch The Predator Touch was different in many ways. It featured the Traxion (trx) studs, which were rectangular and anatomically placed. Before, studs had always been round. For professional players who preferred the old studs, Adidas produced special Predators with a different outsole.
Accelerator The Predator Accelerator version was released in 1998 to coincide with the FIFA World Cup held in France. This boot featured a re-engineered TRX ( traxion) outsole, asymmetrical lacing, fore-footed rubber vamps sewn into the leather, and a "feet you wear" insole. It has been regarded as one of the best boots Adidas have produced to date. The boot was modelled by some of the best players at the time such as Alessandro Del Piero, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard.
The Adidas Predator Accelerator came out in four different color ways: White/black Black/red/White Red/black Electric yellow (limited to a release of 999 pairs worldwide)
Two generations of this boot were produced: The '98 version can be distinguished by two red patches on the heel, whereas the '99 version does not have these red patches on the heel.
Furthermore, the same model was released in the colors of black/blue but without the "Predator" elements. This was a slightly cheaper alternative to the Predator Accelerator. This version was simply called the Adidas Accelerator.
Precision The Predator Precision introduced replaceable Traxion studs that were fitted by the tightening of a minute screw. These studs were available in various lengths that made the boot adjustable to ground conditions as is possible with the classic screw-in soft-ground studs. There were, however, some reliability problems, as the studs would come loose quite often, thus needing more constant maintenance than the classic screw-ins. In 2001 came a completely revised model which had a similar stripe configuration and colorway but the predator technology was revised and bore more of a resemblance to Predator Accelerators.
Controversy arose over the boot's ball-directing striped-line zone in 2002 when Hungarian football gear inventor László Oroszi launched a copyright lawsuit against Adidas. Oroszi had registered the patent in Hungary in 1996, explaining that the striped zone at the tip of the shoe permitted footballers to shoot more accurately. Oroszi's representative presented the patent to Adidas in 1998, but Adidas declined the offer claiming that it did not fit into their concept for the then new Predator Precision shoes. Eventually in 2014, the Hungarian Courts ruled that Adidas had incorporated Oroszi's design into their Predator Precision shoes and that he is entitled to compensation.
Mania Adidas released the Predator Mania to coincide with the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. They designed it with a "Far Eastern" style in mind, so it had sharp angular styling and came in various color schemes in addition to the traditional black–red design. These included the "champagne", a champagne-white color, and the "champagne gold", a gold pearl-like white, although just stud background and heel cup was gold. These were worn by David Beckham, Alessandro Del Piero and Raúl. These were available in the XTRX Blades for soft ground use, which came with a stud key and could be loosened or tightened at the owners comfort and also the red firm ground blades for hard surfaces. These were not detachable and came fixated to the boot. A limited-edition version was also released in "Japan Blue" and was worn by Alex of the Japan national team during the tournament. During the 2002–03 playing season, they also released an all-red version with the Adidas stripes in silver.
Problems with reliability of the XTRX Blades meant a revised version was released in late 2003, which incorporated minor changes to the layout and design of the studs. In addition to this, with the revision, Adidas also released the boots with traditional screw in studs which were previously only available to professional players who had the boots custom designed by Adidas. Two new colours were released: "lunar", which came out in March 2003, and "gun metal", which was released in time for the 2003–04 playing season. The final revision of this boot came with the release of the HG (Hard Ground) sole, which was the same as the FG, except that the studs were black instead of red and were joined up and more robust with the boots intended to be used on third generation and synthetic surfaces. "Blue Mania" were only released in small numbers, primarily in the North American market, Japan and Korea; they are rare in Europe.
With the success of the Mania in 2002, Adidas launched a budget version of the boot called the Manado. This featured all the key characteristics of the Mania boot but with small cosmetic differences. A cheaper young cow leather was used in comparison to the Manias kangaroo skin leather. There was also a difference in the size and length of the tongues on each boot, compared to the Mania and the achillies protector on the heel was not plastic. Differences in the studs and coloring of the under sole are also evident, although the differences can be hard to notice at a glance, the Manados are often mistaken for Manias even though the recommended retail price of the Manados was £60, opposed to the £120 of the Manias.
With the difference in leather and other features, the Predator Mania FG is intended as the peak of the Predator range. With the line discontinued in late 2003, the boot has long been out of stock. There has been a retro version which was released in 2017 in the champagne colorway, its limited quantities made people sell them on eBay at monstrous prices.
Pulse The Predator Pulse was introduced in late 2003, before UEFA Euro 2004. The first colour released was black and red (original). This Predator is the first boot include what Adidas calls the Power Pulse System, and only Predator Pulse can't change to the original insole.
Adidas introduced Power-Pulse in the Predator Pulse in late 2003, and continued with the Predator Absolute in November 2005. Adidas claims the Power-Pulse Sockliner shifts the boot's center of gravity closer to the point of impact, which they say offers more powerful shots on goal. Most of absolute's Power-Pulse is 40g, however only Red version is 60g.A very limited edition of this boot was released called the David Beckham Ying Yang box set. Only 723 pairs of these were released and came in a wooden md glass display box with a small book. Retail price was £699 in the UK for this box set but it is now very sought after by collectors.
Absolute