Why Jack Grealish once wore knackered boots for Championship play-off final

Jack Grealish once wore tattered and beaten up football boots for the 'richest game in football,' as he helped Aston Villa secure their Premier League promotion.

Right now there are fewer more marketable footballers in the whole of the Premier League and English football than Grealish.

Richard Keys might not have been a fan of the Manchester City star's drunken antics following the team's Champions League victory but most others enjoyed them.

Very little in life could be more relatable than the star texting a mate after his bender to tell them that he was 'in a world of pain,' after the wild 48 hour celebrations.

The 27-year-old was overtaken as the most expensive English player of all time earlier this month when Real Madrid confirmed the signing of Jude Bellingham.

However the former Notts County loanee still has one over on his international teammate as he has the record for the most expensive boot deal for a British player.

But he's not always been one to take as much pride in the aesthetics of his boots as you might have thought, even on the biggest stage.

Grealish was Villa captain back in 2019 when they earned a return to the top tier by winning the Championship play-off final against Derby County.

Despite his already quite lofty position as a footballer, even though he was just 23, the forward was wearing extremely tattered and beaten boots,

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle in the game, the star man was being interviewed alongside manager Dean Smith.

The boss pointed to his charge's boots and asked: "Do we need to get you a new pair of boots for the Premier League?"

Sky zoomed in on the broken pair and he then explained them, saying: "Well I came back from injury, and obviously, these were like this.

"I'd got a few goals and a few assists so I thought 'these are my lucky boots,' so I had to keep them."

The club had offered to replace them in the run as they won 10 games in-a-row towards the end of the campaign to secure their place in the play-offs.

In typical fashion though Grealish wanted to be a bit unconventional and keep faith with the pair that had done so much for him in the previous months.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise to learn that the former Villa man is superstitious because it's the same reason he wears his socks low.

He has previously revealed that socks shrinking in the wash led him to wearing them low and it worked so he always does it, though that might also be to show off his magnificent calves.