Abstract: An article of footwear includes an upper and a U-shaped foamed ankle collar. The ankle collar may form the topmost region of the foot receiving shoe opening and the foamed ankle collar may extend at least partially around and over a foot receiving shoe opening. The ankle collar is capable of being compressed by the user's heel during foot insertion and the ankle collar may exert pressure on the user's ankle once the foot is inserted. The ankle collar may have a flattened region along its length forming a downward angle from the topmost region toward the front of the article of footwear. The ankle collar may be located along at least a portion of an inner surface of a heel cup and the heel cup may have a shoe-horn like configuration. The ankle collar may reduce the dimensions of the shoe opening when not compressed.

Abstract: An article of footwear includes a heel counter support situated on the upper and above the sole structure. The heel counter support may have at least two hollow receptacles with backward angles, a compressible component having two ends, and each one of the two hollow receptacles receives one end of the compressible component. The compressible component may have a first configuration and may be capable of distorting into a second configuration under a load of a user's foot when the user is donning the footwear. The compressible component may be capable of automatically returning to the first configuration after the user's foot in fully inserted into the footwear.

Abstract: An article of footwear includes a heel cup that is attached to the upper and extends from the sole structure to at least a portion of the rear heel collar of the upper. The heel cup may be uniformly molded with an upper portion, midportion, and lower portion and the upper portion has a smaller mediolateral length than the midportion, and the midportion and lower portion form a concave structure that receives the heel. The upper portion has a first configuration and is capable of distorting into a second configuration under a load of a user's foot when the user is donning the footwear. In the second configuration, at least part of the upper portion is lowered and is capable of returning to the first configuration after the load of the user's foot is removed. The midportion includes a peripheral portion that may be thicker than a central portion.