Many golden ages ago ( about 18 years to be precise ), I was on a night out with my then friends in central Londons prestigious but now-defunct nightclub Hippodrome, having a great time, the age of garage music with the trendy dance moves and drinks flowing. I remember this particular shirt I wore on the occasion, very trendy and inexpensive and this very shirt became the focus of a very interesting conversation I had with a fellow clubber who I didn’t know from Adam. Having spotted me with my friends, he then approached me and the dialogue ensued somewhat in this form –

Clubber:- Hey, how’s you doing man… I saw you on the other side of the bar and immediately spotted the shirt… that’s a cool shirt you’ve got on!

Me:- Thanks for the compliment but I just wanted to point something out to you… it’s not that the shirt looks cool… I make the shirt look cool!

The clubber looks a bit puzzled, looks at me and the shirt in one swoop motion then declares with harmonious laughter of approval and said, yes! you are right… you do make the shirt look cool! The moral and relevance of this story to this article will become a lot more transparent as we look into how and why the goalkeeping gloves came about…

Inception Era

According to the Deutsches Patent website, the first patent to be granted for a pair of goalkeeper gloves was to a British businessman called William Sykes back in 1885, who ventured into making leather footballs and cricket bats. The glove design was incorporated with a layer of Indian rubber for the protection and cushioning of the goalkeepers’ hands. He was a visionary as it transpired that it took more than half a century… over 50 years! before goalkeepers started wearing gloves regularly. The Argentinian goalkeeper Amadeo Carrizo who played for the country’s club-side River Plate in the 1940s’ and 1950s’, was known to wear gloves and was inspired by the Italian National goalkeeper Giovanni Viola who was one of the first known goalkeepers to wear gloves during the same era.

Karl Reusch the German creator and designer of Winter gloves back in the 1930s came up with an idea, together with his son Gebhard and the co-operation with the German international goalkeeper Sepp Maier to develop the branded goalkeeping gloves in 1973. As gloves became more and more popular with goalkeepers in the 70s, sports brands at the time such as Stanno, Uhlsport and Sondico suddenly found their gloves in demand from professionals and amateurs alike. the gloves were basic, meaning it provided cushioning and grip which are the two principles of today’s modern goalkeeping glove design.

Middle Innovation Era

During the 1980s, the goalkeeping gloves had become a fundamental piece of equipment as leading manufacturers reinvested their resources in designs with more emphasis on grip. Experiments were done with terry cloths, the coating used on table tennis bats and latex foam. Eventually, latex foam became the practical standard of choice due to its durability. Reusch was the leading brand at the time as I remember as a kid, as I dreamt of owning a pair. Back in Nigeria, I waited in anticipation for the monthly Roy of The Rovers football magazine, where the latest catalogue of Reusch gloves where being advertised. I couldn’t afford a pair and the fact that my Dad loathed me having to do anything with football effectively guaranteed I would never own a pair (excerpts of this particular story in my earliest writing Your Miss is Your Mercy 1 & 2)

With the emergence of the goalkeeper gloves and its popularity, some well-known goalkeepers preferred to be what we call “seasonal glove-wearing goalkeepers”. Notables are the likes of Bob Wilson, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton and some others as their preference was dependent on weather conditions. If it was warm and dry then there would be no need to wear a pair as they were comfortable and confident with catching the ball with bare hands, but during the wet, winter season it was obviously a necessity. Reusch, Uhlsport and Sondico were becoming the major brands that dominated the market especially Reusch, having top goalkeepers like Harald Toni Schumacher, Ubaldo Fillol, Nery Pumpido under sponsorship deals, while Uhlsport had the likes of Peter Shilton and Ulrick Stein just to name a few, on their books.

Current Era

Today, ( and I’m including the 1990s to present..) the goalkeeping glove traditional brands over the decades have been usurped by the biggest sporting brands in the sports industry. Nike Adidas and Puma with their dominance in the world market share when it comes to sportswear, have unlimited resources in investing in huge sponsorship deals with the elite professional goalkeepers. With the continuous evolution in technology that reflects in the innovation of goalkeeping gloves, from fingersaves to inflated “boxer like” gloves, back to slim-like design, improved straps to strapless, contours for effective punching etc right down to the actual design like negative cut, finger roll, flat palm cut etc it’s becoming more prevalent that quality along with competitive pricing will dictate consumer behaviour. Successful major sports brands can afford to push the bar up the pricing system, after all, that’s what major brand does but this is not always an indicator of superior quality. Remember the main principles of the goalkeeper gloves are cushioning and grip.  As for durability, we goalkeepers have experiences with different brands with different periodic lifespan ( wear and tear kicks in a lot quicker that one realises ) and the advice would be to have at least two pairs, one for training and one for match days. One can easily go through two pair during a season for training days, so the cost of investment on two pairs of gloves must be minimised without compromising quality. Don’t get me wrong, top brands do sell quality but the price doesn’t justify the durability of the product and this is where the emergence of numerous independent brands has flooded the market with three main strategies to have a piece of the market share namely:-

1. Stylish artistic designs
2. Competitive pricing
3. Innovative marketing

The ecosystem in the goalkeeping industry has truly revolutionised how we the consumer engage in obtaining products that suit our needs. There are multiple social media platforms where goalkeepers regularly interact about what type of gloves to by, where to buy them and why they are worth buying. As I mentioned earlier, major brands are great in innovation but are too pricy under the scope of practicality and durability. Independent brands like Kaliaaer, One Glove, Hedera, PRO-GK, Elite, Calma, Keepersport, GkIcon and many more offer a ton of value at reasonable prices and in many cases superior artistic designs and still maintaining the equilibrium of quality, practicality and durability. Let’s say major brands claim you are paying more for superior grip compared to the independent competitors, but now there are products like Gloveglu and Glove balm that solves the grip issue, at a fraction of a price compared to the superior grip claim. With continuous adaptation in human consumption based on changes in worldly affairs, I predict that specialising in a particular niche to fully serve a consumer’s needs at a competitive ecosystem will triumph over traditional influencers as we move into a new age.

Ultimately, the product isn’t judged on how good looking, fancy or expensive its worth, but on the bearer of the product to express its true value. It’s a fact that despite all the innovation and technology vested in improving cushioning and grip in modern-day goalkeeping gloves, many professional goalkeepers including some sponsored elite, still cannot catch the ball… fact.

“You Are The Ultimate Keeper Of Your Destiny” – ULTIMATE KEEPER