West Brom Women captain Hannah George: "It's great that the club are supporting our change to navy shorts. Representing the club professionally and looking smart in the kit is really important to us. This change will help us to focus on our performance without added concerns or anxiety."
Friday 7 October 2022 12:16, UK
West Bromwich Albion Women have changed their home kit from white shorts to navy shorts after consultation with the playing squad regarding issues wearing white while on their period.
Wearing white while on a period is an issue that has been highlighted by women across all sports, including England Women, who contacted kit manufacturer Nike with feedback on the impracticality of wearing white shorts when some players are on their periods during the summer when they won the European Championships.
Now West Brom have implemented a change that will see their players wear navy shorts instead of white for the remainder of the 2022/2023 season and beyond, and will ensure that the issue is fully considered when designing all future home kits.
West Bromwich Albion Women captain Hannah George said: "It's great that the club are supporting our change to navy shorts.
"Representing the club professionally and looking smart in the kit is really important to us. This change will help us to focus on our performance without added concerns or anxiety."
Head coach Jenny Sugarman added: "It's our job as staff to find every percentage point we can to support our players to perform at their best.
"I'm proud the club have supported the decision to switch to navy shorts for our female players. It's another sign of the continued integration of the women's team across the club and recognition of a progressive and inclusive culture."
The Lionesses wore an all-white kit during last summer's successful European Championship campaign and after England's 1-0 win over Austria in their opening game, forward Beth Mead revealed they had given their feedback to Nike regarding their concerns over wearing white shorts.
The Arsenal forward said: "That is something we have fed to Nike. I think hopefully they are going to change that.
"It is very nice to have an all-white kit but sometimes it's not practical when it's the time of the month.
"We have discussed it as a team and we have fed that back to Nike."
They were comments that were backed up by team-mate Georgia Stanway, who said: "I think next year there is potentially [going to be] a colour change.
"It's hard because once you're on the grass nothing else matters."
