PUMA Cruijff Royal

• MODEL: PUMA CRUIJFF ROYAL

Total Football. A playing style pioneered by the Dutch football club Ajax between 1969 and 1973 in which the absence of one player is immediately filled by another, thus allowing the athletes to switch positions throughout the game. Hendrik Johannes Cruijff – better known to the world as Johan Cruyjff – became infamous for his playing and coaching, both of which were heavily influenced by Total Football.

Interestingly enough, the shoe inspired by the man takes on its own approach to the Total Football spirit, inhabiting the silhouette of another vintage model: the PUMA Jeans. In what is almost a reversal of the original colorway (bright orange details against a dull, grayish, baby blue upper) the PUMA Cruijff Royal sports a beautiful, juicy orange upper. Baby blue formstripes, laces, and inner lining contrast sharply against the body hue to provide a strikingly loud final design.

Not a lot of information is available on these PUMA Cruijff Royal’s, especially regarding where and when they were originally made, however one there is one thing we know for certain: these are rarer than a bicycle-kicked winning goal on a world championship game. Finding a pair, in any size and in any condition, should be considered a great feat, and one would certainly be wise to hold on tight if a Cruijff Royal comes into one’s cross-hairs.

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol

shoes contributed by Will Clayton