The 23-year-old captain of Villa guided his team to victory over Derby despite the fact that his cleats looked, well, worn.
His Hypervenom Phantom III Nikes, which retailed new for £240, appear to have been worn down to the point where his toes are almost totally protruding through the left boot.
The outer covering has worn down somewhat, revealing the inside sock, but this does not appear to be slowing him down.
At the beginning of March, Grealish told Sky Sports the fantastic backstory of the shoes.
He pointed to the boot on his right foot that had suffered less wear and tear and stated, “Well, I came back from injury, and obviously these were like this one.”
They were brand new, and then I scored several goals and dished out some assists.
These boots gave me good luck, therefore I couldn’t bear to part with them. Grealish has two feet planted firmly in the Premier League, despite the fact that he may need a new pair come the next season.
Two goals from Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn were enough for Villa to beat Derby, but a late goal from Martyn Waghorn made things tense for Dean Smith’s squad.
Grealish and his favorite team, Aston Villa, were having a great day, but they made a small mistake.
As they hoisted the Championship playoff trophy, James Chester poked Grealish in the eye with it.
The young Villa supporter suffereda serious gash above his eyebrow as a result.
A quote from Grealish: “Me and Chessy have gone up there, shared the trophy.” Ches prodded me in the brow and pressed the trophy there, slicing open my eyebrow.
To paraphrase, “I ain’t going to be looking too good for the celebrations tonight.”
Liam Rosenior, a sports commentator, made the remark, “You’re the first player to get cut by a trophy!”
Jack Grealish boots: Ex-Aston Villa captain’s lucky charm in tatters after win over Derby
With a tense 2-1 victory over Derby at Wembley, Villa gained promotion back to the Premier League.
Both Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn scored for Dean Smith’s team, but a tense last few minutes were set up when Martyn Waghorn poked home Jack Marriott’s attempt.
Grealish and his players, though, held firm, maybe in part because of the Villa captain’s lucky boots.
Since the beginning of March, when the 23-year-old returned from an injury, he has worn the same pair of Nike Hypervenoms. Smith made Grealish captain for the Villa Park Championship match against Derby, which the home team won 4-0.
After scoring a hat trick in that game, the English midfielder decided to wear the same shoes in the derby against Birmingham a week later.
After scoring the game-winning goal while wearing Phantom III boots againstthe Blues, Grealish’s team won eight straight games and surged into playoff contention.
Grealish decided to stick with his battered shoes by the time the excellent run came to an end away at Leeds, and he has worn them all the way to the playoff final. Even after the final whistle blew, his worn out Nikes were front and center as Sky Sports picked up on the superstition in an interview with him. “Of course, when I returned from my injury, they were in this condition,” he said.
As the saying goes, “I got a few goals and I got a few assists and thought these were my lucky boots, I had to keep them!”
It’s certain that Grealish will be donning a new pair of boots come August, but whether they will be associated with Villa or a Premier League competitor remains to be seen.