Boot money refers to money paid privately or anonymously to amateur athletes, often to circumvent laws or

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

regulations prohibiting athlete compensation. It can be paid as an incentive to win or as a reward for a good performance, but especially in more recent times can involve a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

rewarding players for using their

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

or products. This phenomenon has been found in amateur sports for centuries. The term "boot money" became popularised in the late 1880s when

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

leagues prohibited

professionalism A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

, but it was not unusual for players to find a half crown (two shillings and sixpence) in their

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

s after a game (worth around £66 in 2009, calculated by the rise in average earnings). Before the breaking of the £20 wage-cap by

Johnny Haynes John Norman Haynes (17 October 1934 – 18 October 2005) was an English association footballer who played as an inside forward. He made 56 appearances for his country including 22 as captain. He was selected for three World Cup finals squads ...

, many British football players received ciphered boot money, by fans paying for entrance but not being counted in an official match attendance. This method was also a way of escaping tax deductions too.

Scandals

In 1982,

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

was paying British Olympic athletes to wear their gear. The main person involved in the scandal was

Horst Dassler Horst Dassler (12 March 1936 – 9 April 1987) was a German businessman. The son of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, founder of Adidas. Horst Dassler founded Arena, a swimwear company, and became chairman of Adidas, and at the time of his death it was the w ...

. A scandal broke out over payments alleged to have been made to some

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

internationals during the 1970s. Many other ways were found to work around the laws of rugby union amateurism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boot Money Boots Association football controversies Rugby union controversies Sports scandals in Wales

Scandals

See also

References