[whitney69]

“Are ‘cleats’ something different in the UK?”

You really opened up a good one there. According to the Cambridge dictionary, a cleat is:

a small, pointed part on the bottom of some shoes used for particular sports or activities to stop you from sliding

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/cleat

In the UK, people call cleats boots (e.g., football boots, rugby boots). The protrusions on the bottom of the shoes are referred to as studs. In the UK, Brits call basketball shoes trainers.

But this entry of the daily mail came for the US edition so they didn’t get any of it right.

wy69

[alexander_busek]

Why not simply use an all-purpose word that would apply to any sport?

Like: "...after he hung us his JOCK STRAP?"

Regards,