The kick-off to Chelsea and Arsenal’s clash in the Women’s Super League was delayed by 30 minutes due to a kit clash, as the Gunners brought the wrong socks to Stamford Bridge before losing 3-1 to their title rivals.
The 7pm start was delayed because Arsenal, the away team, had to change into black socks bought from the Chelsea club shop. The Gunners had warmed up in white socks, but they clashed with Chelsea’s home kit and Jonas Eidevall’s team were told moments before kick-off that they had to find a replacement.
The black socks Arsenal sourced had blue trim, and looked to have been bought from the Chelsea club shop. The Arsenal players had to wear tape covering up the Chelsea badge, midway up the sock.
Chelsea had played in blue shirts, blue shorts and a changed colour of blue socks in the reverse fixture at the Emirates in January. But Arsenal seemingly forgot about the switch, and officials did not realise until just moments before kick-off.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright posted on Twitter/X during the delay: “Embarrassing this. Ridiculous.”
The delay was also a bad look for the WSL’s marquee fixture, according to former England international Karen Carney, with the match broadcast live on Sky Sports and with a crowd of over 32,000 at Stamford Bridge.
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