There’s something romantic about seeing a player operate with their socks near their ankles.

But Jack is a decent character with a good personality and, overall, a decent boy.” No special treatment because discipline is important at any level. “It’s the same for everyone in the academy, regardless of talent.

When he went back to the reserves or under-21s, he would be told by Kevin MacDonald to pull them back up, but then, when he was back with the first team, they’d be down again. “When he moved into first-team circles, suddenly, the shorter socks started to reappear. “Week after week, we’d tell Jack to wear his socks high as per normal wear his shinpads as per normal, as academy policy dictates.

“Tony McAndrew and Kevin MacDonald, his coaches at the time, would often come to say, ‘He’s got those short socks on’,” says Jones, who had a 35-year association with the club. Whether it’s for comfort or style, preventing injury or gaining a psychological edge, football socks - and how they’re worn - have never been more important.Īston Villa’s academy is one of English football’s more impressive conveyor belts of talent and, under the leadership of academy manager Bryan Jones, has developed a number of high-calibre players who went on to have distinguished careers at the highest level: Gareth Barry, Gabby Agbonlahor and Gary Cahill, to name a few.ĭiscipline was the cornerstone of this success, with black boots very much the order of the day, but a young Jack Grealish, an under-15 at the time, “suddenly adopted an idea that he would change the rules of the academy”.

Fast forward to today and players continue to use socks as a way of expressing their individuality, whether it’s through the use of sock tape, cutting socks around their calves, incorporating tube socks or, indeed, #LowSocks.

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