THE BEST FOOTBALL BOOTS OF 2019 - WHAT'S YOUR TOP TEN AND OVERALL NUMBER 1?

This year was jam-packed full of epic limited releases and outstanding packs from the brands. As the year comes to an end it’s time to reflect on our best of 2019 and give you the chance to vote on your top 10 and what you thought was number 1!

Vote for your top 10 below and read through our thoughts on each release, then at the bottom of the page, tell us your favourite boot of 2019 and why for your chance to win a $100 gift voucher. We have 5 of these to give away! (this competition has now closed).

2020 is going to be an even bigger and better year. Probably the biggest in our short history and we can’t wait to bring you the best products to Australian shores once again.

 * The results are in and the poll is CLOSED! view the latest Ultra TV episode to check out the top 10!

Nike Phantom Venom – Launch Colourway – January.

When we first saw the all new red and black launch colourway of the Phantom Venom we knew it was going to be a hit.

Designed for the game’s deadliest finishers, Phantom Venom’s aim was to take precision to new heights. The impact around the globe was next level, with the key phantom athlete’s like Kane, Rashford, Cavani, Lewy & Sterling going crazy in front of goal with added precision. What a debut.

Adidas Copa 70^th Anniversary Pack – January

70 years of adidas Copa is a big deal. When we teased Paulo Dybala wearing the Copa 70^th Anniversary Pack FG’s we sent fans into a frenzy and with good reason. It’s not often we’ll ever see a premium Copa featuring a one-piece PRIMEKNIT upper mixed with leather lining on top of a COPA 19+ soleplate. A nod to a revolutionary history and a boot we think deserves the top 10 treatment. If you copped one good move!

Nike Game Over Mercurial Vapor – January      

With all the hype around the game over Phantom Venom, you may think the addition of the Game Over Mercurial Vapor in our top boots list comes as a surprise. The reason we did? The engagement rate on the launch post was literally off the charts at 34%. That was our biggest organic social post of the year… meaning you Ultras absolutely lost it for this colourway. And looking at the perfect blend of “Thunder Grey” & “Dark Grey” merged with that bright yellow sole plate, it’s not hard to see why. Aesthetically this boot is hard to beat for a standard release product.

Nike Neymar Jr. Silêncio Mercurial Vapor – February

The first of two Neymar special editions for 2019 dropped in Feb with the Silêncio Mercurial Vapor. This boot was all about Neymar’s love for the game which means everything to him. Matchday: eternal silence. Nothing else matters to Neymar when it comes to football hence the Silêncio/Shhh pack branding. Only Nike can cover a boot with SHHH and turn it into a masterpiece. Top 10? Maybe.

Adidas Predator Precision – 25 Year Archive Collection – March

The Precisions immortalized by THAT Beckham free kick against Greece in ’01 which sent England to the World Cup finals. Seeing the DB Predator Precision drop as part of the 25 Year Archive Collection got fans excited, and if you were lucky enough to secure a pair of these you may well have picked up the best release of 2019.

Everything about these are perfect. The 1 to 1 replica upper of the original mixed with the Predator 19 soleplate means that once again you can choose to rock these on pitch with even better tech than before. If these aren’t the best, they’re certainly in the mix!

Adidas Predator Accelerator – 25 Year Archive Collection – March

This was a surprise, and a stunning one at that! Adidas dropped this Predator Accelerator as the second remake in the 25 Year Archive Collection along with the DB Precision, but the difference here was that this Accelerator coming through with that outrageous gold, white and red colourway had never been available before.

Accelerator is many purists' favourite Predator of all time, so dropping an all new colourway which paid homage to the man who won his fair share of gold trophies - Zinedine Zidane – was a massive surprise. Once again numbers were super tight for this one, so if you were quick enough to get a pair you really got a rare gem.

Adidas Predator 19+ DB ZZ co-creation – March

With the main 25 Year Archive Collection focussing on the past success of Predator, adidas then decided to drop an absolute treat in the form of the modern-day Predator 19+ DB ZZ co-creation which brought the best of both legends together.  

We loved the colourway and the DB ZZ initials embroidered on each boot. Paul Pogba was the chosen athlete to rock these on pitch against Arsenal. When you see all three of the boots together you really start to see why is one of the best all round packs from adidas this year!

Nike Total 90 Laser Special Edition – March

With adidas going hard early with top notch remakes in the front half of the year, Nike had to join the party and did so by bringing back the 2007 Total 90 Laser. Total 90 is many fans favourite boot of all time so when this got teased, we knew it was going to be a big one.

Like with adidas remakes, Nike brought the T90 laser up to speed for the modern game by going 1 to 1 on the upper mixed with a modernized Hyperstability 2.0 soleplate from the Phantom VNM series. Limited to just 2000 pairs worldwide this one sold out instantly, and we’re hoping for more from Nike in 2020. Who knows, could T90 return?

Nike Mercurial Superfly 360 LVL UP – March

For over 20 years the iconic Nike Mercurial has embodied explosive speed through colour and design. The LVL UP Special Edition featured various elements found on some of the boldest Mercurial boots made in the past decade. The tonal white-on-white safari print combined with colours from the previous best CR7 releases produced a smash hit colourway.

A great bonus for us Australia fans was that this boot wasn’t just made for Cristiano Ronaldo. Our very own Sam Kerr, as well as France's Kylian Mbappé laced these up as part of Nike Football announcing the duo were the newest icons of speed. How good.

Adidas Pogba Season 5 – April

A drop so clean it must be one of the best PP Limited Collection boots of all time. Pogba Season 5 was inspired by the courts of Paris and has a basketball theme throughout the whole pack. Not only was that boot outstanding, so was the 10/10 off-field range; completed by a trainer constructed with a blend of football and basketball technology inspired by James Harden, and even used tooling from the Harden Vol2 basketball shoe. For fans of Pogba & Harden this LC was a must cop.

Mizuno Morelia Neo II F9T – April

2019 saw one of the games greatest forwards call time on his illustrious career. Fernando Torres was one of the best in the world at his peak and it was fitting that he received a final limited-edition product to pay homage to his glittering career. The Morelia Neo II F9T’s colourway tied back to his first international goal for Spain back in 2004 and we thought the predominately white and red with touches of gold colourway was a real winner and must have for any Torres fan.

Nike Game Killers Phantom Venom – May

Nike really killed the game with two champagne gold drops in May paying tribute to the success of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane who guided City to the FA Cup Final. Phantom Venom was absolutely flying already with the hype around the new silo still high, so bringing in an LC in champagne gold was always going to make serious noise in the market, especially when there was only 2000 available worldwide.

In fitting fashion Sterling scored twice as Man City took home the FA Cup in total dominance beating Watford 6-0. Champagne football you could say.

Nike Game Killers Mercurial Vapor – May

Leroy Sane’s Game Killers Mercurial Vapor for the Final was also a must have, with a slight difference to the Venom colourway coming though with the speckled gold look on the upper and gold swoosh. We think this one looked better overall, but with the hype surrounding Venom and Sterling’s effort in the final we’ll have to pick Venom as our favourite of the two.

Sane may not have scored in the Final but damn he looked good!

Puma King Platinum – June

Everyone owned a Puma King at some point in time, right? Most of the world’s best played in them too with the original dropping way back in 1968. When Puma dropped the Puma King Platinum in June, we were pleasantly surprised at how many of the younger gen jumped on the release. We knew the older fans would get it, but this release turned out to be one for everyone.

The black premium leather upper with the shiny super-lightweight ‘RAPIDSPRINT’ soleplate engineered for the modern game couldn’t have been better in our opinion, and the overall craftsmanship from Puma created the fasted and lightest King ever. It may not be the best boot in 2019 but for many of us it was such a pleasure to see launch. Long live the king.

Adidas Nemeziz 19+ Marvel Spider-Man – July

Something different but boy did this work out! July saw the release of the Nemeziz 19+ Marvel Spider-Man edition in conjunction with the latest film, and the boot was wrapped so well you’d almost think these were a movie prop. Nemeziz is all about agility, so tying in Spider-Mans super-hero agility and iconic red and blue colourway was a great way to kick off adidas’s new partnership with Marvel.

Cool enough to be in the top 10? We think so!

Mizuno Morelia Neo II Beta – August

In August Mizuno really raised the bar in terms of tech with the new Morelia Neo II Beta. Mizuno’s Made In Japan handmade models were already of the highest quality, but when they offered up the Beta which weighed in at a staggering 170g things got taken to another level. Not a single drop in quality as well – only Mizuno could come up with that.

Fans of Mizuno absolutely swear by them and rarely go back to any other brand. With the new blackout Beta model having just launched, why not take the punt and see for yourself?

 Nike Neymar Jr. Speed Freak Mercurial Vapor – August

The second Neymar special edition for 2019 dropped in August with the Speed Freak Mercurial Vapor. Speed is ingrained in Neymar’s DNA and was captured all over this model inspired by Formula 1. You just need a quick glance at these to notice the checkered flag and speed stripe effects. A really nice touch on the heel area showcased the legendary number 10 that Neymar Jr. wears with the Brazilian national team, iconic Nike logos, as well as graphics from past boot models and some of his personal mantras ("Sonho Dourado," "Alegria," "IV," "Shhh") in F1 style branding.

Adidas X 99.1 – September

If you are a fan of lightweight boots and thought the Morelia Beta was cool, then you would have loved the X 99.1 in September. Adidas released the limited-edition 99.1 as a look back at the lightest football boot ever made - the 99g adizero.

A massive bonus for fans of the original release was that adidas delivered a full-size run for this version meaning you could choose to play in them if you desired – and why wouldn’t you. This is one of the best performing boots this year and what a statement you’d make on pitch.

Faster than the speed of light was the vision behind this one and that’s how they sold. We think they are easily one of the best boots of 2019.

Puma King Top – September

The rulers back. The OG Puma King colourway with modern tech? We had to include it in our best boots of 2019. Nostalgia, nostalgia, nostalgia. Fans of the classics will vote for this release.

Adidas Input Code Predator 19+ - September

We had to put these in our 2019 best-of list just because of that gold and blue colourway. Just look at it. Any time adidas puts gold on the Predator 19+ fans react positively, and while there are other better boots this year, we had to remind you of just how sensational these looked.

Adidas Limited Edition F50 – September

The return of an icon. Fans went crazy in September when the limited-edition X 506+ Tunit dropped as a further celebration of adidas’s rich heritage in football. The original version is such an important boot because it was the first F50 to be fully customisable and launched in time for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Having the X19+ tooling for this version meant it significantly reduced in weight from the OG which makes it even better. Those who loved the original didn’t waste time buying this reissue and whether you chose to rock or stock these you now have your hands on one of the best boots of 2019.

Nike Mercurial Dream Speed Superfly – October

October saw the first Mercurial Dream Speed Superfly drop, designed for the needs of the fastest players on earth Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and yep, you guessed it, Sam Kerr.

The boots design follows the theme of the DNA of speed and outlines technical details found in a Mercurial schematic, such as perforation patterns, registration marks, crop lines, colour codes, a scale ruler and other graphic elements that show how the boot is built. Cool huh? The bold blue colorway takes cues from blueprints and if this is a sign of what’s to come, Dream Speed is a winner.

Adidas Messi 15 Years Nemeziz 19.1 – October

Celebrating 15 years of the GOAT. Adidas dropped the limited-edition Messi 15 Years Nemeziz 19.1 in October and it is our favourite Messi boot to date. Easily.

The blue and white Argentina style colourway with touches of gold, along with a chromed-out soleplate highlighting the ridiculous number of trophies he’s won, ties together one hell of a boot. A must have for Messi fans and one that could be in the mix for the best of 2019.

Nike Limited Edition Singles Day Mercurial Vapor – November

Another different style surprise release, but another great one. The Singles Day Mercurial dropped to coincide with the biggest shopping day in the world: Singles Day. The date has become a major date on the global shopping calendar, and next year we’ll be wondering how Nike are going to top this first Singles Day edition.

The black upper mixed with Chinese red Flyknit upper and soleplate create one of the best Mercurial Vapor’s we’ve seen. Vapor is still the number 1 boot on most people’s wishlists, so we won’t be surprised if this polls strongly.

Puma Future ‘Flash Pack’ 5.1 – November

When you get Thierry Henry’s expert insights on how to take an already winning silo forward you know it’s going to work out well. Puma Future has been great so far, but the new 5.1 is the fastest and most agile version seen to date with a completely updated collar and soft leather over the toe. We love that blue and black colourway along with the Netfit tech and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for Future in 2020.

Adidas ADV Pack Predator 19.1 – December

Things really heated up this month when adidas dropped the 25-year anniversary ADV pack featuring the epic white, black and red Predator 19.1 in leather. White and leather is a match made in heaven and the instant sell through shows just how strong the desire is for top notch leather boots in a premium colourway. Leather isn’t dead in an age of synthetic uppers, and when you drop a white silo with Mania details it was always going to be an instant classic!

Adidas ADV Pack Predator 19+ – December

A leather Predator 19+ with the OG Mania colourway and details? Off the charts. Just look at them and tell us you don’t want to slip a pair on and whip balls into the top corner. This is one of our favourites from 2019 for sure.

Adidas Predator Mania 2002 Reissue – December

The big one. Adidas saved their best till last with the OG Predator Mania in one of its rarest colourways dropping earlier this month, and we won’t argue if you think its number 1! This was an incredible remake and takes one of the best boots of all time to new heights.

The 1 to 1 upper is gorgeous with improvements to the fold-over tongue to make it more durable and sturdier, and the addition of the Predator 19+ soleplate means it’s better than the original – crazy right?

One of our standout moments from this year was seeing Ivan Rakitić play in these and with the updated tech there’s no reason why more people shouldn't be. A 10/10 release… will it poll as number 1?

Nike Bondy Dreams Special Edition Mercurial Superfly – December

Kylian Mbappé is on another level and we were thrilled when Nike dropped his first special edition, the Bondy Dreams Mercurial. This boot stands out with it’s green, grey and gold colourway paying homage to his hometown Bondy in Paris, and the individual and club awards he has already piled up at the young age of 21. The details on this boot are second to none, and many of us at Ultra put it as our favourite Nike drop of 2019. Can it be number 1? You decide!

Adidas Pogba Season 6 – December

The final big release of 2019 was the Pogba Season 6 collection, featuring a Predator 19+ that surprised us with how quickly it sold out – not because we don’t rate it, we actually think that black upper with shock pink and shock purple added is one of the best yet – but because Paul has been struggling with injury so long he’s almost a forgotten man.

In true Pog fashion though his first game back proved why we love him so much, and how much Manchester United have desperately missed his presence on the pitch. A true superstar, and this boot is fit for him.

LET US KNOW YOUR NUMBER 1 BOOT OF 2019 AND WHY FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A $100 VOUCHER.