Why Do Soccer Players Cut Their Socks?

Written ByDaniel Pena
Reading Time: 2 minutes

If you have ever seen a professional game live or on TV, you may have noticed that a lot of professional soccer players play with cut up socks or with holes in their socks. There are various reasons why players might cut their socks and the main ones are because they can wear grip socks underneath and improve the comfort of their training gear.

In this blog, I will explain why football players cut their socks in various ways and the advantages of doing so.


Image by Nathan Rogers

Why Do Professional Footballers Cut Their Team Socks?

Professional soccer players sometimes cut their team long socks to wear more comfortable socks underneath, usually grip socks. Grip socks, which get their name from their strong grip pads, are designed to stick closely to your foot to minimize how much your foot moves inside the soccer cleats, and prevent blisters, and other minor foot issues.

Here are some potential benefits of cutting your new socks and wearing a specialized pair of socks:

  • Improve comfortability
  • Improve cleat responsiveness
  • Reduce foot slippage inside of the cleats
  • Prevent blisters
  • Might help prevent injuries more than regular socks
  • You get to choose what type of socks you wear, instead of wearing team socks
Why Do Soccer Players Cut Their Socks?

Why Do Professional Footballers Cut Holes in their Socks?

Besides cutting their team socks in half, soccer players also cut holes in the back of their socks for various reasons such as:

  • Improved functionality and comfort
  • Relieve pressure around the calf muscles and other lower leg muscles
  • Increase blood flow and circulation to the lower limbs

To Summarize

To summarize, there are many footballers that cut their socks for many good reasons. There are two main ways to cut your socks in soccer, cutting the ankle part and using grip socks along with the remaining long part of the sock or cutting holes in the back of socks to alleviate pressure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do football players cut holes in their new pair of socks?

Professional soccer players cut holes in the back of their socks for many reasons. Finish reading the rest of this blog to find out why plus much more.

Which professional football players cut holes on their socks during the Qatar World Cup?

Many of the England national team players cut holes in their socks to alleviate pressure on their lower leg muscles and have better form fitting socks. Manchester City and England player Kyle Walker was the first player to play with holes in his socks during a game against Liverpool back in 2018.

Soccer Coach/ CPT/Blogger/Sports Coordinator

Daniel Pena is an amateur footballer, a private coach, blogger, and league manager who is passionate about the beautiful game and looking to give back to the game. Daniel has a combined 10+ years of experience playing in club soccer, high school, college, and top amateur adult leagues in the United States, a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology Rehab:Science, and is a Certified Personal Trainer and Nutritionist.
Daniel has a training program called The Art of Football and works with various athletes in all age-ranges with athletic training, recovery from injuries, and football training. The Art of Football believes that one of the best ways to get better at the game is to play the game and surround yourself with it as much as possible.
That is why Daniel also created Bay Area Champions. A competitive but friendly small-sided soccer league in the United States. Through the Art of Football and Bay Area Champions Daniel also gives back to the community of San Jose by hosting free pickup games for players in our leagues, training program, for the public!

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