The England women’s team will swap their white shorts for blue, the Football Association (FA) said on Monday, after players voiced concerns about playing in white on their period.
While the FA did not provide a reason for the switch in its media release, England forward Beth Mead had said last year that the team had spoken to official kit manufacturer Nike about a potential change because white shorts were “not practical when it’s the time of the month”.
European champions England will wear blue shorts for both their home and away kits for this month’s friendlies against Brazil and Australia and at the Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20th to August 20th.
Women’s teams at Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion have since switched to navy and burgundy shorts, respectively, while the Ireland women’s rugby team also announced a change to navy blue shorts last month.
Champions Cup permutations: What is on the line for Leinster, Munster and Ulster in final pool matches?
Ken Early: If Mikel Arteta really loves Arsenal’s players, he should let them play
Mauricio Pochettino picks combustible player for questionable US experiment
Some threw toilet rolls - others, sausages. How it might look if you were a fly on the wall at Mack Hansen’s Media Training
The issue of women athletes wearing white clothing was also brought up at last year’s Wimbledon tennis championships when women players spoke about the anxiety of being forced to wear white on their period.
[ Joanne O’Riordan: If talk of periods in sport freaks you out, ask yourself whyOpens in new window ]
The grass court Grand Slam will make an exception to its strict all-white dress code and allow female players to wear dark coloured undershorts for this year’s tournament. – Reuters