Shin Guards Facts - Five Things About Shin Pads You Didn't Know

Shin guards are worn in a variety of sports including football and hockey, and are designed to protect the sensitive tibia bone from injury. Some sports have mandatory rules governing the wearing of shin pads to reduce the number of injuries. If you are a regular or even occasional player, make sure you invest in a pair of good-quality shin pads to prevent long periods of absence from the pitch due to injury.

Although we often think of shin guards as a modern invention, perhaps due to the cutting-edge technologies often used in their construction, they are actually descended from ancient armour worn by infantry troops. Read on to find out more, along with four other tips about shin guards that you probably didn't know!

Shin pads are descended from the greave - like many modern objects, shin guards are descended from objects used in battle. The greave was a piece of armour that protects the leg, made from materials including padded cloth and steel. They were most commonly used by heavy infantry, and were developed in ancient times, although they continued to be used during the middle ages.

Unions would like to see teachers wearing shin pads - in August 2011 in the UK, unions urged the Government to provide teachers with shin guards to protect them from violence from school pupils, citing the number of students expelled each year for unruly behaviour. The GMB union said that teachers and teaching assistants should be issued with protective gear, including shin pads, to prevent injury.

Shin pads for sport were first used in cricket - shin guards were originally used in cricket to give the batsman a strategic advantage; by placing his legs in front of the stumps he could use his legs to block the path of the ball and prevent his wicket being taken. The overuse of this led to 'leg before wicket' rules being introduced in 1809. Leg guards continue to be used in cricket, mostly as protection, and are worn by the wicket-keeper, the batsman, and by fielders close to the batsman.

The most expensive shin pads cost £150 ($233) - shin pads range in price, all the way from a couple of pounds for a non-branded pair of guards to £150 for a top-of-the-line pair of Diadora Totti Mondiali shin Pads. Personally cast from Francesco Totti's leg and featuring F1 Technology, these carbon-fibre shin pads are made from a layer of Titanium fibre on the inside, and a layer of Kevlar fibre on the outside. If you've got money to spare, these are the bee's knees.

People initially laughed at the use of shin guards - the first person to use shin guards in Association Football, or soccer, was Sam Weller Widdowson in 1874. At the time soccer was unregulated and brutal, and Widdowson was looking for ways to cut down on the injuries sustained during the course of a match. As a regular cricket player, Widdowson decided to cut down a pair of cricket shin guards and attach them to his legs using straps of leather. And he was met with ridicule from the other players! However, they soon saw the advantages and so the practice began to spread.

We hope you found these facts interesting - please remember to wear shin guards when practising or playing in a match to keep your legs protected and comfortable.

Tom Cleverley Made His Return to Manchester United

Tom Cleverley is an English footballer who currently plays as in the Premier League side, Manchester United. He has been playing with Manchester United with the age of 12 and is a home grown player. The 22 year old is one of the most exciting emerging players of the Premier League. He made a phenomenal start with Manchester this season until he was met with an injury and fans are desperately waiting him to get fit and resume action because his attacking flair is being missed by Manchester United which seems to be struggling at the moment.

The full name of Tom Cleverley is Thomas William Cleverley and he was born on 12th August 1989. The midfielder started his career from the youth camp at Bradford City and joined the English giants, Manchester at the age of 12. The Red Devils has taken great care to groom the young star to become what he is today. He played for the reserve team of Manchester United from 2007 to 2009 and also made appearances in the first team in friendly matches.

In order to give him more experience, he was loaded to Leicester city which is a League One side in 2009. He became a regular in the first team of the League One side and helped his side to win the title and to get prompted to the Championship. This was the first promotion the youngster experience which may not sound a lot but this isn't a task he would have ever had to deal with while playing with Manchester United considering the great success of the club.

Manchester United is one of the biggest club of England and the winner of the last season of the Premier League. They have a huge fan base and it is a common sight to see Manchester United Tickets sold out for the match.

For the season of 2009-2010, Cleverley was loaned out to Watford, a team in the Championship League. He scored 11 goals form them in the 33 games that he played. For his spectacular performance, he was named the Player of the Season and it was evident that the young talent had developed to the level of the Premier League and that turned to be true when Wigan Athletic signed for a season long loan the very next season. He helped Wigan to escape relegation by scoring 4 goals in his 25 appearances. It was his goal that proved to be decisive and lifting Wigan Athletic out of the relegation zone.

He made his return to Manchester in the current season of 2011-2012 and made his first appearance for the club in a competitive game in the Community Shield match against Manchester city. It was derby plus a match for the shield; it wasn't a surprise that Manchester United Ticketsand Manchester City Tickets were difficulty to get. He played his first ever premier league match for Manchester United on the 14thAugust in the game against West Bromwich Albion. However, his run which was just starting came to halt due to a nasty tackle by Kevin Davies of Bolton Wanderers and he suffered ligament damage as a result of it.

He was sidelined for a month because of that made his return on 25th October in the match of the Carling Cup. He was performing spectacularly in the next game against Everton before getting injured midway in the game. Sir Alex Ferguson publicly hailed his performance as "Outstanding". Fans are desperately waiting for the young star to get fit and start performing again.

Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool Match Report

Glen Johnson snatched a late winner at the death to snatch 3 points for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Maxi Rodriguez gave The Reds a deserved half time lead with a clinical finish after a swift move from Liverpool. The lead was shortlived after half time as Daniel Sturridge fired home from close range.

On a day where Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles met their former club, it was infact Chelsea old boy Glen Johnson who had the last laugh on his previous employers to give Liverpool a much-needed 1-2 Victory.

Manager Kenny Dalglish had made 3 changes to the team that faced Swansea. Dirk Kuyt was given the nod as well as Craig Bellamy, who Kenny was hoping would recreate some of the form he displayed over the international break where he was a pivotal figure for Wales against Norway. The team sheet also saw a surprise inclusion for Maxi Rodriguez, making his first start of the campaign.

The game started off lively, both teams were offering attacks and Maxi Rodriguez was nearly through on goal twice, but was denied by John Terry and Ivanovic, muscling him out of the way. The Argentine was looking to capitalise on his rare start and show manager Kenny what he has to offer.

Chelsea also offered a threat on goal, with the likes of Juan Mata, Drogba and Lampard all starting and were nearly ahead on the 10 minute mark. Florent Malouda brilliantly skipped passed right back Glen Johnson, and swung in a dipping cross to the back post, but Mata couldn't capitalise, flashing his shot across the face of the goal. John Obi Mikel then attempthed an audacious effort at goal from 25 yards out, only for his shot to clear the cross bar.

Chelsea had then appeared to take the lead, as far as thousands in the stadium and at home thought. Didier Drogba won a freekick on the edge of the area and stepped up to take it. The ball emerged to have hit the back of the net but on a second look it had narrowly missed the post and brushed along the outernet. A let off for The Reds.

It was soon Liverpool's turn to threaten the Chelsea goal once again; John Terry lost the ball in a dangerous position to Dirk Kuyt, who released Suarez, fresh off a 4 goal demolition for Uruguay. But the striker was unable to pick out the advancing Maxi or Craig Bellamy.

Liverpool soon made up for the earlier missed chances. It was Mikel this time that was dispossesed within his own half, quick pressing from Charlie Adam allowed Craig Bellamy to snatch the ball playing a one-two with Suarez before faking a shot to put through Maxi on the left, who was left with the simple task of slotting it past goalkeeper Cech. A precise move saw Liverpool finally convert a chance, which has somewhat become a struggle as of late.

The lead was then nearly extended to two. A defence splitting pass from Lucas Leiva put through Luis Suarez, but the Uruguayans first time cross deflected off David Luiz and nearly nestled into the net.

With Chelsea behind, Villas Boas had to change things. Mikel was replaced with Daniel Sturridge at half time. The change seemed to have had worked, they stepped out the blocks quickly and created a chance instantly. Mata and Lampard had combined cleverly to release Drogba, but the Ivorian could only lift the ball over the bar.

However the equaliser then came on 55 minutes. Malouda was allowed to advance into the box, before his wayward shot found Sturridge at the back post, who made no mistake and tucked it into the corner from close range.

Chelsea were on top and very nearly made it two, a flick on from David Luiz from a resulting freekick was expertly kept out by Reina with an instinctive save.

Kenny Daglish sought to his bench to bolster the midfield. Craig Bellamy made way for Jordan Henderson, another player who glistened during the international break.

An over head kick from Malouda received applause from the Chelsea crowd but that's where the honours ended as Reina watched it comfortably slide past the post. The frenchman then had the best opportunity of the match to make Chelsea's second half dominance count but his shot from close range went well wide of the target.

Former reds Torres and Meireles then made their bow, greeted by an array of jeers from the travelling Kop, drowning the cheers from the home fans. But it was Liverpool who threatened, a sublime piece of skill from Henderson saw him skip past Ashley Cole via nutmeg and then evaded a sliding challenge from John Terry, crossing for Downing, who layed off Kuyt but the Dutchman's shot was quite the opposite of the build up.

On 87 minutes the game seemed to be heading for a draw, with neither team able to deliver a knock out blow. Until Charlie Adam picked up the ball in the centre of midfield and found former blue, Johnson with his trademark left foot pass. The rightback nutmegged Ashley Cole and steamed into the box finding himself one on one with Petr Cech, clinically finishing with his left foot to give Liverpool the spoils. A well earned victory on Stamford Bridge for the second year running.