Alex Bellos - Where football tackles the world

To Aldyr A.B.

To ABC, with love B.L.

For my mum S.G.

P rofessional footballers seem to glow. Their well-toned bodies and perfect posture are signs of fitness and well-being. They spend money on dentistry to make sure they have gleaming white teeth. On the top of their heads is always always a fashionable flourish of hair. They are a picture of good health, a sight to behold.

Just dont look at their feet!

Claw toes. Bruises. Blisters. Bunions. Calluses. Corns. Swellings. Verrucas. Eughhh! Footballers feet are the victims of a lifetime of kicking a ball around for hours a day. And theres a lot that can go wrong with a foot if it is not looked after properly. Believe us weve spoken to an expert!

To kick off Season 3 at Football School, we are going to look at our lowermost limb: those five-pronged platforms that bear the weight of our entire bodies, and whose name is contained in the first four letters of our favourite sport.

Theres trouble afoot and were not going to tiptoe around the details!

A doctor who specializes in feet is called a podiatrist. Many clubs employ a podiatrist because it is so important that footballers keep their feet in good condition. Just as firefighters take care of their hoses, singers take care of their voices and illustrator Spike takes care of his pencils, footballers must look after their feet in order to do their jobs properly.

We spoke to Nutan Shah, one of the UKs top podiatrists, who has worked with many top clubs and the England team. Shes peeled the socks off the subject in order to let us know the ugly truth about footballers tootsies. Not a pretty sight! she revealed to us. The feet get battered. A few players have immaculate feet but very few.

It pays to look after your paws. Shah says that a footballers most valuable accessories are not their fancy sunglasses, a fast car or the latest phone, but a pair of nail clippers and a nail file. Badly looked after feet can mean players miss weeks of action.

Footballers are all too aware of their disfigured trotters, which is why Shah told us that at the end of the season they often ask her if she can make their feet look pretty. They are about to go on holiday and they want their feet to look nice on the beach. Footballers are able to look after their hands and face throughout the season, but their feet are completely bashed about.

When it comes to looking after your feet, the first thing to get right is the size of your shoe.

Footballers often wear boots that are too tight, maybe a size or a size and a half smaller than what their podiatrist recommends. Many footballers prefer tight boots because it makes them feel that the shoe is like a second skin, which gives them more control of the ball. But it creates foot problems down the line. Its a pressing issue!

Footballers also need to be very careful about what shoes they wear in their free time. Podiatrists see problems emerge when footballers wear stiff fashion shoes that rub their feet and give them calluses, blisters and even open sores called ulcers. If an athlete wants to protect their Achilles tendon, they need to wear shoes that have an incline in the heel, so flat shoes like Converse trainers or flip-flops are not recommended. Nor are stilettos!

Another major problem is moisture. This isnt just because footballers run around a lot, which gives them hot and sweaty feet. Its also because they spend so much time washing and soaking their feet in water. As part of their fitness and hygiene routines, footballers are often in the shower, Jacuzzi or bath. If the feet stay too wet then they are at risk of fungal infections, and if they dry out too much they get dry and cracked skin. A sensible footballer will rub moisturiser on their feet. Smooth!

Foot Complaints

athletes foot An itchy rash caused by a tiny fungus that eats dead skin. It got its name because the fungus thrives in moist, warm places like the damp surfaces in swimming pools and gyms where athletes spend their time. In order to avoid catching athletes foot, its advisable to wear flip-flops at the pool or gym.

black toe If a player hits their toe hard perhaps by kicking the ground by mistake, or another player treading on their feet the skin underneath the nail can bleed, turning it black or purple. In certain cases of black toe, the entire nail will eventually fall off.

callus A yellowy blob of hard skin, caused by something hard rubbing against the skin continuously for a long time. For example, the little lump many people get on their middle finger from where a pencil rubs when they write is a callus. Calluses tend to appear on the feet more than anywhere else, because whenever we walk or run our feet rub against the inside of our shoes. A small callus can help protect the foot, but once they get big they cause discomfort and have to be removed. Footballers and other sportspeople are susceptible to calluses, especially if their boots are too tight.

claw toe A condition where all the toes, apart from the big toe, curl in, so rather than lying flat, they look like animal claws. Most footballers have claw toe, the result of wearing boots that have been too tight from a young age. If a footballer has claw toe, they are more likely to damage their toenails and get more calluses and corns.