It was Craig Johnston's birthday yesterday, so here's a look back at his most famous creation, the Adidas Predator football boot

At some stage along the way, almost all of us has owned a pair of these iconic boots, and given that it was former Liverpool player and the inventor of the Predator, Craig Johnston's birthday, we felt we had to mark it somehow. However, the Predator is not his only achievement, he was also a great player for Liverpool back in the day, and scored a few goals for the club. Most notably, he scored in the 1986 FA Cup final against Everton, but this particular goal, against their Merseyside rivals again, was also a bit special, as he hits a brilliant looping finish in to the top corner.
According to accounts, he's also the man who wrote the Anfield Rap, and after we found that out today, we genuinely can't decide which has been a bigger achievement. He also invented the Traxion system for the sole of boots after he was concerned that a lot of players were suffering knee injuries and thought the problem could be solved by having smaller studs which didn't stick in the ground. Not satisfied with all that, he also invented the software that lets hotels know if you've taken something from the mini bar, which we have to say is not our favourite of his inventions. However, he has taken a career turn and has now become a photographer, but who knows, he might yet invent some other type of new magic boot. Here's the full list of all the boots in the Gallery:

Predator

The World Cup in 1994 brought the boot that was almost never made to the world stage. Johnston had tried and failed to bring the idea to Nike, Reebok and Adidas, before he returned to Adidas with footage of Beckenbauer using them in the snow which made them change their mind, and the history of the football boot was changed forever.

Rapier

In 1995, they brought out another edition of the boot, which changed the design, looked a bit more modern, and came in a few more colours

Touch

The Touch saw the blades enter the game, in place of the regular round studs. Did we think this would some how make us faster and possibly even stronger? Yes.

Accelerator

When we think of Zidane, these boots, released for the 1998 World Cup, are the only ones we ever picture him wearing.

Precision

There was a huge range of colours for this particular launch, which is why you may remember these in a metallic blue or white instead of black.

Predator Mania

These were launched for the 2002 World Cup, and this time Raul was the main man, who was at the height of his powers at this stage.

Pulse

These were iconic for the fact that they had the little David Beckham likeness on the tongue, we'll never forget these on display at Euro 2004.

Absolute

2006 rolled around and brought another World Cup, and this time the Absolute was the king of boots.

Power Swerve

This was the last boot to use kangaroo leather, and also changed the ridging on the top to a type of sponge which gave more of a swerve to the ball.

Predator X

The phenomenally popular boot got one important makeover at this stage – they removed the tongue, which promised better control of the ball.

AdiPower Predator

This was the boot that convinced Kaka to stop wearing Copa Mundials, although we still think the Mundial is bloody fantastic.

AdiPower SL

This one might have passed us by in the JOE offices because it wasn't too familiar, but it looks very Tron and now we want a pair.

Predator LZ

They're the newest of the models, and very slick indeed.