Lionesses switch to blue shorts with ‘leak protection’ liner after England women’s team raised concerns over playing football in all white while on their periods
- England Women are continuing their preparation for the World Cup this summer
- The Lionesses released their home and away kits they’ll wear at the tournament
- They will no longer wear white shorts after concerns were raised by players
The Lionesses will switch to blue shorts with a ‘leak protection’ liner after the England women’s team raised concerns over playing football in all-white while on their periods.
Both strips for this summer’s World Cup will be accompanied by blue shorts instead, with white shorts dropped after discussions involving the players, the FA and kit supplier Nike.
This has also led to the adding of a ‘leak protection’ liner – something that has been designed to help ease worries for players during performance while on their period.
The liner has been extensively tested and the removal of white shorts is a huge victory for the sport with Lionesses stars having raised concerns with Nike over recent times.
Ahead of Euro 2022, Beth Mead and Georgia Stanway were among players to speak out on the issue, with the FA saying at the time changing colours ‘will be taken into consideration for future designs’ rather than changed imminently.
England Women will no longer wear white shorts after concerns were raised about players playing while on their period, with blue shorts to accompany the new kit
The removal of white shorts is a victory for the sport with Lionesses stars having discussed the issue with Nike over recent times, while a ‘leak protection’ liner has also been added
Beth Mead was one of England’s players to speak out on the issue ahead of Euro 2022 last year
Mead had said: ‘It’s 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. Hopefully they’re going to change that.’
Stanway backed up her team-mate, as she argued: ‘I think that’s something that we can speak about as a full squad.
‘I think next year there is potentially a colour change. I think it’s hard, because once you’re on the grass, nothing else matters.
‘As soon as the adrenaline comes in, nobody cares.’
The Lionesses will wear the fresh kit for this summer’s World Cup after the new-look shirts were launched on Monday morning, with a white home and blue away strip.
Sarina Wiegman’s side will showcase the new design for the first time this Thursday when they take on Brazil in the inaugural Finalissima before they host Australia next Tuesday.
The Nike kits will then be available for supporters to purchase from the week beginning June 5.
It was announced the shirts were inspired by Wembley Stadium, with the iconic venue celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, while it also holds the two record attendances for women’s football matches – set by recent England games.
England Women’s captain Leah Williamson modelled their kit for the World Cup this summer
The white home strip was accompanied by a blue away shirt which has a geometric pattern
England’s home kit will be a plain-white shirt, with blue details, which is also a way for the Lionesses to pay homage to the kit worn by the Women’s team at Euro 1984 – the country’s first-ever team for a major tournament.
The away strip is the first time the team will have worn blue and it possesses a geometric pattern, with slightly lighter and darker blues present.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses will be looking to build on their triumph at Euro 2022 last year when they head to Australia and New Zealand.
The tournament begins on July 20 and England have been pitted against Denmark, China and Haiti in Group D of the competition.
Other sports that could scrap all-white kits
Tennis
Emma Raducanu plays in her all-white kit at Wimbledon in June, last year, before rules on clothing were relaxed
For 11 months of the year tennis players are free to choose which kits they wear (within the scope of their sponsorships).
But in July those wishing to compete in Wimbledon have had to bring out their whites as The All England Club has historically only allowed people to play in this colour.
That will change later this year, when for the first time female tennis players will not be forced to wear white at the tournament.
This relaxation of the rules – which means only the top half of the outfit has to be white – has come after concerns were raised about women playing while on their menstrual cycles.
Cricket
England’s Alice Davidson-Richards hits the ball during a Women’s test match in Taunton, in June last year
England’s men and women’s teams have always worn white while playing Test cricket – the longest form of the sport.
It was partly believed this was because players needed to be in white for there to be a colour contrast with the red ball.
However, this is not the case in shorter forms of the sport such as one-day and T20, where the ball is white.
In these competitions England wear coloured shorts and tops, with both men and women sporting dark blue trousers.
Rugby
Tatyana Heard plays during a Women’s Six Nations match between England and Italy on Sunday, April 2
England’s women’s rugby union team – known as the Red Roses – still wear white shorts as part of their all-white kit.
There’s no indication as of yet that this will change, but other teams in the sport have already made up their minds on it.
Earlier this year the Ireland women’s team announced they would swap their traditional white shorts for navy blue over period concerns.
The move was welcomed by Ireland centre Enya Breen, who said: ‘This will remove the stress of worrying about being on your period while you’re playing in a match.’
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