You might not know of the feud between German brands Puma and adidas, each claiming that they have invented the original screw-in stud football boot, but the 1952 Super Atom may provide the ultimate answer.

In fact, the brand of the Big Cat claims to have investigated its archives and have proof that, right from way back in 1948, founder Rudolf Dassler had a brilliant idea to develop football boots allowing for optimal use on different types of terrain.

To this end, the 30 employees in the headquarters at Herzogenaurach began to work on a boot providing for the studs to no longer remain nailed in the sole, but studs of various lengths and types could be screwed depending on the level of muddiness of the field.

The starting point here was the “Atom” incarnation, used by the German national team against Switzerland in 1950, but, despite its success, this Puma football boot did not have the facility of leading to the best possible grip and footing on different types of grass, so more precise research needed to be carried out.

In this respect, a number of football experts like national coach Sepp Herberger were brought in, and the development was finished and the trial phase could begin after a couple of years.

Puma began serial production of the so-called “Super Atom” release for availability at the start of the 1952 / 1953 football season in Germany, and the footballing world was very pleased to see the screw-in stud appear on the market in order to mitigate the danger associated with the earlier soles.