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SOS! - "Save Our Shins" by Stanley Lover

Why shinguards are compulsory

Protection - ancient shinguards worn over bare legs

... and modern shinguards must be covered entirely by stockings

Samuel Widdowson was renowned in Nottingham as a lace manufacturer and as a sportsman who excelled at running, hurdling, cricket and soccer. He played for his home town club Nottingham Forest (1866-1885) and for England (1880). As a youngster he almost gave up soccer because his desire to play to his skills was too often frustrated by the degree of physical violence tolerated in the game in the early 1800's. He simply could not afford to jeopardize his business or be deprived of sporting pleasures because of serious injury. Hope of change came when The Harrow School Rules (1860-63) set a standard of fair play, to be followed in essence by Cambridge University and The Football Association, by stating;

"Rule 11. All charging is fair but no holding, tripping, pushing with the hands, shinning or back shinning is allowed."

Anyone who has been shinned, whether in playing soccer or colliding with an obstacle, knows it hurts! Dr John Crane, thirty years doctor at Arsenal and sixteen as medic to the England team, explains why,
"The front lower leg is all bone, with practically no fleshy protection of nerve centers. Without some form of cushion to absorb the impact of a flying boot all players risk lacerations or broken shinbones."

The Harrow example did not eliminate all shinning. As a lively centre-forward Samuel Widdowson had his share of injuries and decided to act. In 1874 he invented and patented the shin pad. It comprised strips of bamboo cane, laid side-by-side, encased in fabric to form a flat pad. He wore it taped to bare legs or outside stockings to cover the shinbone.

Six years later, recognizing the growing adoption of the shin pad, the rule makers officially permitted its use in Law 10. It then disappeared from the laws but was reinstated in 1990 after the outcry following the enforced retirement one of the world's best players, Marco van Basten of Holland, due to leg injuries.
Until players could afford the commercialized shinguard they made do with whatever served the purpose. Pads of cotton wool, sandwiched between woollen stockings and flesh, were an obvious choice. Corrugated cardboard strips, cut to size and shape, were an alternative until wet weather crinkled them into ugly soggy lumps and erased the air pocket absorption quality. They were also messy to extract. A better alternative was the paperback book of 128 pages or less. A couple of Agatha Christie's shorter stories were perfect, providing a touch of drama to exposed flesh. They retained their shape but tended to move under woollen stockings until they finished at the back of the leg! They also became unreadable due to a potent mixture of sweat and aforementioned climatic influences. Their owners were not amused.

Players graduating to a higher class of soccer were obliged to follow their peers and buy manufactured shinguards. Pleasant to the eye and touch, reasonably efficient but lacking the satisfying aura of inventive improvisation of cotton wool and paper, they became compulsory equipment in a 1990 revision of Law 4;

"(1) (a) The basic equipment of a player shall consist of a jersey or shirt, shorts, stockings, shinguards and footwear"

The imposition of leg protection provided a market opportunity for the sports equipment industry. Modern technology has been applied to the humble Samuel Widdowson bamboo cane pads. A recent soccer equipment survey lists 36 versions of the shinguard, available in the price bracket of US $7 to 35. All are high-tech products with materials ranging from simple cotton to polyester, synthetic leather, latex 'breathable' foam, fiberglass, fishbone, 'air capsule gel' and space age titanium. They offer qualities of super lightweight, shock dispersion zones, air cushioning, impact channeling, precise anatomical fit, protection for ankles and Achilles, calf protection, removable ankle inserts, Velcro closures. Some even claim to be 'washable'!

All are offered in pairs with no distinction between right and left legs. A hole in the market there for someone! 
Life was so much simpler in Samuel Widdowson's day.

by Stanley Lover - 2004
First published FIFA Magazine July 2004.
Acknowledgement required: 'Source FIFA Magazine' - thanks