THEY were the boots worn by George Best, Kevin Keegan, Pele and the dominant Liverpool and Leeds United sides of the 1970s.
Now, 40 years after they were last worn in top-level football, Stylo Matchmakers have made a comeback.
Scott Michaels, a barber turned entrepreneur who took on cosmetic giants like L'Oreal and Weller to launch his own range of hair styling products, is the man responsible for the - pardon the pun - reboot.
Scott, 36, is now ready to take on Nike, Adidas and Puma.
Before those global brands took over the market, Stylo Matchmakers were the only boots any top player would be caught dead wearing.
Manchester United legend Best had his own signature range, while European Cup-winning sides like Nottingham Forest and Liverpool had deals that saw nearly ALL their players wearing the boots.
Created by defunct high street chain Barratts, Stylo Matchmakers were true trailblazers in the 1960s.
They were the first brand to move on from all-black boots - adding a dash of white along the top - and also the first to give players their own signature models.
Scott tells SunSport that a "lightbulb went off" while on a photoshoot with some Championship players for his hair product, Hairbond.
He tells us: "I asked the players to bring retro boots.
"One of them brought a pair of pink Nike Tiempos and I said 'they're not retro'.
"I thought if I could bring back a brand and use what I'd learned from marketing our hair products and make it a challenger brand, then there could be something there for us."
Michaels continues: "I started doing a lot of research, looking at brands. Stylo Matchmakers just jumped out at me and as a traditionalist I feel in love with the brand.
"Pele, George Best, Billy Bremner - all these guys who have iconic statues.
"The great Celtic teams, Kevin Keegan, Brian Clough, Bill Shankley. The more I saw about the brand the more I loved it.
"I thought this is different, retro, old school."
Scott, who is from Lytham in Lancashire, bought dozens of modern boots and began testing.
He'd done the same with men's hair products - after leaving school with no qualifications and spending a decade as a hairdresser, Scott launched Hairbond.
His bank manager had wondered how he would compete with global cosmetic firms and you might wonder how he is going to compete with instantly recognisable sportswear brands.
But Hairbond is now loved by celebrities and barbers across the world - more than 1.5million products have been sold for a retail value of more than £25million.
"You can't compete with them, you change the state of play," says Scott.
"I like to call it a zag where the other brands are zigging."
He adds: "Being from the fashion industry and the hair industry I've seen how [styles] can change.
"Fifteen years ago blokes were having red highlights like Freddie Ljungberg, or lines in the back of their head and went for very extreme looks.
"It's almost like that's where football boots are at the moment, with this extreme style. Fashion goes around in circles.
"The big brands are also pushing it as a technical product. They all talk technology.
"But at the end of the day, and I've spoken to a player who's played for England recently, I said 'is it really going to make a difference to your performance on the pitch?'
"And he said: 'no'.
"When it comes down to that question, it's alright the big brands claiming all the latest technology, but it's not going to make you a better player."
A big part of Scott's plan to 'zag' is how and where he sells and markets his boots - at the moment, you won't find Stylo Matchmakers in high street shops.
Instead, Scott markets directly to parents and players through coaches, professional academies and amateur clubs.
Sir Alex Ferguson introduced the 'black boot' policy at Manchester United and dozens of clubs in the Premier League and Football League have followed suit, as have hundreds of youth teams across the country.
The idea is that none of the players are allowed to wear fancy boots until they reach a certain age, making it less about the individual and more about the team.
"The brand has an impact on a certain demographic, on parents and grandparents," says Scott.
"They're saying to their kids 'oh wow, you've got Stylos, I used to have a pair of those'.
"It has a huge nostalgic influence.
"We're working with coaches at academies who remember the brand to tell parents of the kids about it.
"And it's almost like a sales network because they recommend the boots and we're getting sales through that."
During his research phase, Scott spent hours at a local Sports Direct to see which boots were being bought by parents and kids.
He siad: "We've got the right product and we're cutting through with the value and price with a premium British shoe brand with huge history."
There is also a growing stable of professional players wearing the boots.
Leicester City hero Christian Fuchs and Rangers star Kyle Lafferty have both worn the boots, while a number of League One and Two players have signed deals with Stylo Matchmakers.
Even Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos has thrown his support behind the brand on social media.
There are currently a dozen developed boots - most are predominantly heritage black, there is one white and gold pair, one brown pair and one with a dash of purple that is based on the first ever side-laced boot George Best wore in 1970.
A gold pair are in development, while they have two styles of running trainers.
The biggest selling point of the boots are their classic looks.
"Obviously not every player is going to like a black boot but we're starting to get those guys at the back, centre-backs, or midfield generals," says Scott.
"Not prima donnas - you've got to be a proper footballer to wear proper football boots!
"It's keeping that retro look and taking that on with the lightweight, new sole plates. We've taken the old, classic leather uppers and modernised them with the latest outsoles.
"Modernise without compromise
"It's almost like this hipster, retro way.
"A bit like in the music industry, push it as the alternative.
"There are no gimmicks to the boot, no 'flyknit' or 'ultra-whatever' system.
"It's a football boot that looks cool."
It's been a year since launch and Scott has already sold £150,000 worth of boots despite having "not much of a strategy".
His next steps will be bolder.
"My vision is to go into places where the big brands avoid, territories like Africa, South America, Asia.
"Countries which the corporations maybe don't trust.
"They're not going to sell big volume deals into Nigeria or China because they're worried the product will come back into the UK and upset high street chains.
"I'm getting onto governments and try and seed in boots and trainers.
"I want to put shoes on kids' feet, which is powerful.
"Some people in the UK are paying £700 for a pair of trainers, in Africa, there can be 700 kids without one pair of shoes."
Scott also plans to branch out of football boots and into leisurewear and other sports.
He is also relaunching the 1962 World Cup football Crack next year.
Stylo Matchmakers has a long history in golf, where Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer used to wear the golf shoes.
Rugby is another sport he is looking to get into, especially as more and more players shun traditional clunky boots for football boots.
Highly-rated teenager Tom Hardwick was seen in a pair of Stylo Matchmakers for Leicester Tigers.
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"In the first 12 months we've done £150,000 in one of the hardest markets from a standing start," he adds.
"Within the next year I'd like to take [turnover] up to a million.
"Profits probably won't come until year three or four, because we've got to invest in new models to build up inventory
"We're trying to build value and do things the right way, rather than borrowing hundreds of thousands, millions of pounds to make this work.
"The strategy is to get it rebooted, drive it as far as we can and fly the flag as a British premium brand."
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