How We
Verify
The rare boot market is breaking. Fakes are getting better every year, sellers are cutting corners, and brand new can mean anything from genuinely match ready to a pair that will fall apart after 90 minutes. Here's exactly what we do before a pair gets listed — and what happens if we ever get it wrong.
You shouldn't. The market has trained you to be sceptical. Our job isn't just to tell you a pair is real — it's to provide evidence and let that speak for itself.
There's no "official authenticator" for football boots. No certificate of authenticity that means anything. Just people who've handled enough pairs to know when something is wrong, and most people out there simply haven't.
Not store credit. Three times what you paid, refunded. That's how confident we are.
EVERY SINGLE PAIR.
From the moment a pair is offered to us, to the moment it goes up on the website.
Where it came from, who's selling it, why it's available now.
30-second visual sweep. Sometimes that's all it takes for us to spot a fake.
Cross-checked against known production runs.
We check specific inspection points where the good fakes fail.
Side-by-side against confirmed authentic examples we've handled.
Visual grade plus match-ready or collection-only classification.
Real photos taken by us before the pair goes livev.
We take pride in the fact that we've never slipped up, not even once.
The pair is half-authenticated before it arrives.
The fastest way to end up with a fake pair s is to blindly buy from anyone who has a pair for sale.
Where pairs come from. Long-term collectors retiring or downsizing. Families clearing out a relative's collection. A small network of trusted sellers in the UK, Europe, and the USA who've supplied us for years.
What we ask before we agree to buy. Where and when the pair was acquired. Original receipt if it exists. Storage history. Whether the pair has changed hands before. If they've been worn, how much?
Red flags at this stage. Sellers offering multiple pairs of the same rare colourway in a large number of sizes. Stories that don't add up. Reluctance to disclose acquisition history or send photos that we request. Prices significantly below market. Any of these and we walk away.
Most fakes give themselves away in the first thirty seconds.
Before we even touch the pair, they get a clean visual once-over. The aim isn't to confirm authenticity — it's to flag anything that doesn't look right, because authentic boots have coherent details that fakes almost always miss.
Every authentic boot has a paper trail.
Adidas, Nike, and Puma all stamp internal codes that identify the model, colourway, and production run. We cross-reference every code against other trustworthy sources such as Pro Direct, UniSport or the actual brand websites themselves.
Six checks. This is where the good fakes fail.
Modern counterfeits can replicate the look of a boot from across the room. They almost never replicate the construction. We run six specific inspection points on every pair — the same six, in the same order, every time.
- Style code matches — correct format, font, and position for the model and era.
- Stitching is consistent — uniform tension throughout, no skipped or doubled runs.
- Correct materials used — kangaroo leather, flyknit, synthetic exactly as the pair should have.
- Size tag is error-free — manufacturer-correct typography and placement.
- Insoles match reference — correct materials, details & overall build quality compared with others from the same line.
- Style code mismatched — wrong format, wrong typeface, or doesn't match the boot.
- Inconsistent stitching — doubled, skipped, or visibly machine-wrong details.
- Wrong materials substituted — synthetic posing as leather, cheap polymer in the soleplate.
- Size tag errors — typos, misplacement, or incorrect manufacturer formatting.
- Insoles inconsistent — often treated as an afterthought, underrated way to tell if a boot is fake.
We've handled the boot before. Probably more than once.
Every pair we've ever inspected has been photographed at the same angles, under the same lighting, and added to our website. When a new pair comes in, we don't compare it to memory. We compare it to dozens of confirmed authentic examples of the same model.
What's in the archive. Photography of every pair we've authenticated since 2020, indexed by model, colourway, and production year.
Why this matters. A single boot in isolation tells you very little. The same boot next to fifteen confirmed examples tells you everything.
What we don't pretend. If we haven't handled a specific brand or model before, we are even more careful.
Authentication isn't outsourced. Every pair is checked by our team with 6 years of experience handling rare boots.
Two grades. Both on every listing.
Authentic isn't the whole answer. Every pair gets a condition grade — what they look like — and a wearability classification — whether we recommend them for match play. Both go on the listing so you can make an informed decisioin.
Lace them up.
Structurally sound. Soleplate flexes cleanly, no visible separations. We've stress-tested the pair and we'd play in them ourselves.
- Soleplate intact, no cracking on flex test
- Glue clean across the midsole
- Studs intact, threads strong, replaceable studs functional
- No prior repair history that affects structural integrity
Keep them on the shelf.
Authentic, but wear at your own risk. The boot itself is real — it's just been around long enough that wearing it now increases chance of sole separation or other damage. Display them, photograph them, admire them. Only wear them if you really want to.
- Midsole showing age — typically 12+ years old
- Soleplate brittleness or cracking on flex test
- Peeling of material inside heel liner
- Any structural concern we wouldn't accept on our own pair
You see what we see.
Every authenticated pair is photographed in-hand, under controlled light, at the same angles. No stock images. Unless they have multiple sizes, the pair you see is the pair you receive — and the photographs are the record we'll refer back to if anything is ever disputed.
Additional photos or videos are taken on request, message us before checkout and we'll send through whatever you want to see.
Triple your money.
Back in your account.
We're confident in the process. We're not arrogant about it. If a pair you bought from us is ever proven inauthentic — by an independent authenticator, or by a manufacturer record — we refund three times what you paid. No stocking fee. No "store credit." The full triple, back to your card.