Reason England are wearing blue away kit in Women's World Cup final
England are wearing their blue away kit for their first-ever Women's World Cup final after the Lionesses were drawn as 'Team B'. As such, fans won't see the superstars sporting their white strip during today's final against Spain. Instead, they're hoping to lift the trophy while wearing the same blue kit that saw them triumph over Australia during the semi-final.
The decision comes after Spain reportedly had first choice and chose their home kit, which features red tops and navy shorts. Accordingly, the Lionesses are playing in their away kit, to prevent the teams from both playing in navy-coloured shorts.
England dropped white shorts from their playing kit ahead of the Women's World Cup, joining a number of domestic clubs who made the change after players expressed their concerns about playing in white while on their period.
The new home kit, still manufactured by Nike, features navy shorts and a blue trim on the shirt collar. Meanwhile, the Lionesses' away shirt has been dubbed the best England kit of all time. Chris Burns writes: "Without getting too carried away in the headrush and excitement of an actual England team reaching an actual World Cup Final, I think the latest blue shirt for the Lionesses is this is arguably the best England shirt ever, worn by the men or women's teams.
"If my list of favoured England shirts over the years feels unfairly weighted toward the men's shirts, it's worth remembering that, rather shockingly, the Women's European Championships in 2022 marked the first tournament where England Women had worn a kit solely designed for them, rather than wearing the same design at the men's team.
Earps reacts to FIFA Best nomination and on season so far with Man Utd
"Why is it the best and does any other kit rival it? Of course. The England men's away shirt for 2020 was a beauty, but the collar is where it falls down slightly, while England's truly astounding and sleek red away shirt from 1966 is also so iconic it's hard to argue against it, yet I'm going to do that anyway.
"While the Lionesses' shirt mirrors the fantastic blue of the early 1990s men's shirt the beauty of it is that it does not need to play on the nostalgia of the men's side. Instead, this is a kit forging its own history for a vibrant team of superstars that have already won one major tournament and have now made a World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand.
"The stunning light blue shirt is a top that's going to look great in a casual setting as well as a sporting one and not every top can be worn like that. It looks great with jeans and can be worn as a fashion statement as much as it can be adorned for a quick game of five-a-side.
"The darker blue pattern is attractive without overwhelming the simplicity of the shirt and it is actually cleaner than the underused men's shirt of the early 1990s. In creating the shirt Nike has stripped back often busy design templates and kept it simple.
"It also has value for collectors too. Not only is it a stunning design that pulls just enough of the past into the future, it's probably going to be worth a fortune in recent years. A retro England blue away shirt worn by a team that's captured the hearts and minds of a nation as they reach a World Cup Final? Yeah I think it's going to be worth just a bit in years to come."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
