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Buying guides

News, buying guides and gear reviews. Our scores and verdicts are only published after field testing.

Illustration of a football jersey hung on a hanger to dry in the open air, with orange water drops falling on either side Buying guides

How to clean and care for your football gear

Jerseys, pants, girdles, shoulder pads and gloves: the washing and drying instructions published by Barnett, McDavid, Schutt, Cutters and Nike.

 Illustration of a boil-and-bite football mouthguard seen from above, its tooth channel marked in orange, held over a pan of steaming hot water Buying guides

How to mould a boil-and-bite mouthguard

Moulding a football mouthguard: soaking times from the Shock Doctor and Makura instructions, the bite, the suction, cooling, and how to check the fit.

 Illustration of a football torso split down the middle: on the left the compression base layer against the skin, on the right the match jersey over the shoulder pad, drawn as an orange dashed outline Buying guides

What to Wear Under Football Pads

Compression layer, girdle, pants and jersey: the order the layers go on under football pads, and what the equipment rules actually require of each.

 Illustration of a football glove laid flat, its overall length marked by an orange double arrow Buying guides

What size football gloves do you need

Measure your hand once, then read the Cutters, Nike and Barnett charts side by side, with youth sizes and the wider cut of lineman gloves explained.

 Illustration of an American football linked by a hose to a pressure gauge with an orange needle Buying guides

Football ball pressure and care: psi, break-in and storage

How much psi a football needs, who checks it before kick-off, and how Wilson says to break in and look after a leather ball season after season.

 Illustration of two football outsoles seen from below: on the left, moulded studs forming one piece with the sole; on the right, studs set in threaded sockets, one socket empty and its orange stud lying beside the shoe Buying guides

Moulded or detachable football cleats: what actually changes

Moulded or detachable studs: what the outsole changes, what the IFAF and German rulebooks allow, surfaces, positions, upkeep and what Europe actually sells.

 Illustration of football shoulder pads above a row of player markers on the line of scrimmage, one marker picked out in orange Buying guides

Football shoulder pads by position: which cut to choose

Which football shoulder pads for which position: skill, all-purpose and line cuts, the positions manufacturers name, plus back plates and rib protectors.

 Illustration of a white football helmet inside an orange circular arrow Buying guides

How often should a football helmet be reconditioned, and when should you replace it?

How often a football helmet must be reconditioned and recertified to the NOCSAE standard, what the workshop does, and the signs that call for a new one.

 Illustration of a player throwing a ball at a training net with four orange ring targets, pegged into the grass Buying guides

How to practise football throwing at home

Work on your passing in the garden: target nets and their prices, the space they need, ball size by age and the drills published by the governing bodies.

 Illustration of a football cleat in profile with an orange arrow measuring its length from heel to toe Buying guides

How should football cleats fit?

Measure your foot, read the Nike and Under Armour charts and leave the right room at the toes: the manufacturers' own method for sizing football cleats.