England to play in blue shorts at Women’s World Cup
By PA Sport staff
England will play in a new home kit featuring blue shorts at this summer’s Women’s World Cup after player concern over wearing white while on periods.
The Lionesses have been playing in an all-white home strip, including at the European Championship that they hosted and won last summer.
During that tournament, England winger Beth Mead and midfielder Georgia Stanway spoke out about the issue, with the former saying: “It’s very nice to have an all-white kit, but sometimes it’s not practical when it’s the time of the month.
🏴 Our England family 🏴
The new @Nikefootball England Women's kit.
✨ Available 5 June ✨— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 3, 2023
“We’ve discussed it as a team and we’ve fed that back to (kit suppliers) Nike.”
The Football Association said at the time: “We recognise the importance and want our players to feel our full support on this matter. Any feedback made by them will be taken into consideration for future designs.
“We will continue to work in close consultation with our partners Nike, while still following guidance from tournament organisers where possible in terms of colour choices.”
On Monday, a number of new Nike kits for this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand were launched, including England home and away strips that both have blue shorts.
⚪️🤝 🔵 pic.twitter.com/osbRzhWRJ8
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 3, 2023
Sarina Wiegman’s team are set to showcase the new attire during Thursday’s Finalissima meeting with Brazil at Wembley and the friendly against Australia at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium five days later.
The kits go on sale to the public from the week beginning Monday June 5, ahead of the World Cup starting on July 20.
Earlier this season Manchester City’s women’s team changed from wearing white shorts to burgundy to help players feel more comfortable while on their periods, while West Brom and Stoke switched to navy and red shorts respectively.
