Aston Villa are to wear the club’s controversial new home strip for their Women’s Super League opener against Manchester United, despite ongoing issues with kit manufacturer Castore.
Villa’s men’s team have complained to the club over the design of the kit, which retains sweat and leaves the shirts feeling heavy and uncomfortable.
The club are reportedly in the process of cutting ties with British company Castore and ending their contract early, while the kit manufacturer is said to be working on coming up with a solution to the problem.
Concerns were raised ahead of Villa’s opening WSL fixture, a match that will be broadcast live on the BBC, but manager Carla Ward has said the players have agreed to wear the shirt after having the option to wear the away kit instead. The men’s team will also continue to wear the home kit when they host Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.
“I think we have similar concerns as to what the men have,” Villa manager Ward said on Friday. “It was highlighted early in the pre-season from the men’s side and backed up by the women.
"But as far as I am concerned, it’s over to the club and Castore to deal with it, my focus has to be the weekend and making sure the players are focused on that.
"One thing I will say is the club has been absolutely superb in these last few days. There’s been a constant communication of how can we help the players and make them feel better.
"There’s a genuine care from the football club. The players feel that, we feel that, and our focus is now solely on Manchester United."
Aston Villa’s Boubacar Kamara in the ‘wet’ kit against Everton— (Getty Images)
Villa signed a contract with British company Castore, who have also produced kits for Newcastle, Wolves and Rangers this season, in 2022 and there were no issues with the design on last season’s kit.
The BBC commentator Jacqui Oatley told Newsbeat this week that Villa’s players would be “dreading” wearing the shirt because of it would look.
“Normally they’d absolutely relish those games and look forward to them,” Oately said. “But they’re actually dreading it because they’re really conscious about how they’re going to look in this wet, clingy kit - for obvious reasons."
