New Balance 2017 Football Boot Range Review

Josh reviews four of the latest New Balance football boots for the 2017 season - the Visaro Liga Full Grain Leather, Visaro 2.0 K Leather, Visaro 2.0 Mid and the Furon 2.0 Pro Blackout Limited Edition.

Whether you play aussie rules football or soccer, there's a New Balance football boot to suit your playing style, budget and what features are most important to you. From the wider width of the Visaro Liga Full Grain Leather, to the Fresh Foam sockliner of the Visaro 2.0 K Leather and Visaro 2.0 Mid for unrivalled comfort. For an ultra-lightweight design, the Furon 2.0 Pro is the one to beat.

Check out the full review with transcript below.

Hi guys, Josh here from Sportitude.

Again I have another football boot review here for you and it’s about time because we are coming into the winter season right now. What I’m going to bring to you today is a little sneak peek of the New Balance football boot and soccer range for 2017. I have four crackers I want to talk to you about.

I’m going to start off with this little beauty which is called the Visaro Liga full grain leather, so it’s a leather football boot through the forefoot. Now the reason I’ve got this one first is it’s got a key little feature. It’s actually a 2E width. It’s the only boot on the range right now from every brand that comes in a 2E width.

If you have a broader forefoot and you’ve been squeezing yourself into football boots in the past, it’s been really uncomfortable and the salesman has told you “don’t worry the leather will stretch” and it hasn’t, get this little guy on your foot.  

It’s got a wider base and a little bit more depth through the upper. Being a leather forefoot it’s still going to give you a bit of play with a little bit extra width. The Visaro Liga full grain slightly wider option is fantastic.

Now I’m going to quickly touch on the Visaro 2.0 K Leather. This is the premium boot from New Balance this season. It’s a cracker, it’s fantastic, it’s super light. It has kangaroo leather through the forefoot. One little feature which is amazing, they’ve actually injected part of a Fresh Foam sockliner on the inside of the boot.

You’re saying Fresh Foam, what the hell is that Josh? Fresh Foam is New Balance’s cushioning system they use in a couple of their premium running shoes, the 1080 and the Vongo Fresh Foam. They also inject Fresh Foam in a couple of their lightweight Tempo shoes which we have on Sportitude as well.

The Fresh Foam sockliner on the inside just gives your foot a little bit of assistance on those firmer grounds. Football boots aren’t the most comfortable things in the world underneath your foot and when you have something like this sitting underneath the base of your foot it’s fantastic. It gives your foot a bit of relief. So that’s the Visaro 2.0 K leather.

Quickly touching on the Visaro 2.0 Mid. The actual upper through the forefoot isn’t a leather, it’s just a stock standard synthetic number. But you are looking at a couple of things here which are very similar to the 2.0 K Leather, for example the sprig configuration is the same. On the inside of the Visaro 2.0 Mid it has a Fresh Foam sockliner as well. The sockliner is removable, has a little bit of elevation and isn’t a glorified sweat catcher like every other sockliner, it actually has some padding. It’s gorgeous, fantastic and very comfortable.

I’m going back to the 2.0 K Leather. The trick with this little guy is you can’t pull the sockliner out - it’s stuck, embedded and stitched into the boot. Now that’s great because the sockliner will never move under the foot. It’s a part of the boot, so you’re never going to have any issues from the sockliner moving from medially to laterally in the life of the boot. Once you start getting to the second half of this football season when your boots are stretched out a little bit there’s a bit of play and your foot isn’t going to be slipping around too much with that sockliner secure inside the boot.

I want to touch on the New Balance Furon 2.0 Pro Blackout limited edition. New Balance came to us eight months ago and said “Hey guys do you want to buy this boot?” and we said “absolutely!” but we are not bringing many pairs into the country. We’ve had them in stock here and they’re going very well. If it’s a boot you like the look of please jump onto Sportitude right now because sizes will not last.

It’s an incredibly light boot - one of the lightest boots we have on the market this year. Underneath the boot we’re looking at a sprig configuration that’s designed for the firmer ground. You can play on a softer pitch if need be but again the sprigs probably aren’t long for those really soft grounds, but on the firmer grounds it’s fantastic.

It’s almost like a sprint spike upper. It feels like you’re wearing a track and field spike because it is that light. It doesn’t have much customisation through the forefoot so when you actually get it on the foot don’t expect this shoe to stretch because it really won’t. It’s got to be a secure fit straight away.

Now that being said it’s on a D width platform so if you’re outside that width, if you are a 2 or a 4E don’t get it. Instead, entertain the first boot we talked about, the Visaro Liga full grain leather. It’s a wider option, it’s a very similar weight boot but not quite as light as the Furon 2.0 Pro, which we will see on TV this year with some of the sponsored AFL players wearing it and certainly a couple of the A league players. I’ve even seen it on a couple of Premier League players feet this year as well. It is a premium football boot and very light.

So there you have it, the New Balance footy boot range for 2017 on Sportitude. Happy kicking!