Man City Women will no longer wear white shorts due to period concerns

Manchester City Women become latest team to ditch white shorts as part of their home kit – and swap to burgundy to help players ‘feel comfortable’ during their periods

• Manchester City Women will no longer wear white shorts as part of home kit
• The move is to help the football players ‘feel comfortable’ while on their periods
• Club will instead wear their burgundy away shorts with their sky blue home shirt

Manchester City Women will no longer wear white shorts as part of their home kit to help players ‘feel comfortable and perform at their highest level’ while on their periods.

The British football club will instead wear their burgundy away shorts with their classic sky blue home shirt for the rest of the current campaign, as they did during Wednesday’s 6-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the Conti Cup.

In a joint statement, City and strip manufacturer Puma said the club would look for a different colour scheme starting from the next season following talks with the players, reported Sky Sports. 

The Women’s Super League club’s decision to swap shorts follows West Bromwich Albion Women, Stoke and Scottish side Livingston all making the move to change kit colour.

City’s announcement also marks the latest example of female sportspeople campaigning for change with regards to white sports clothing and menstrual cycles.

Manchester City Women will no longer wear white shorts as part of their home kit to help players ‘feel comfortable and perform at their highest level’ while on their periods. Pictured, Manchester City’s Chloe Kelly during the FA Women’s Super League match between Chelsea FC Women and Manchester City WFC at Kingsmeadow on September 25, 2022

The British football club will instead wear their burgundy away shorts with their classic sky blue home shirt for the rest of the current campaign, as they did during Wednesday’s 6-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the Conti Cup (pictured)

In July activists gathered outside the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to protest the Wimbledon ruling that all players, both male and female, must wear white in the competition.

‘These archaic rules were written years ago by men and they’ve gotten stricter and stricter over the years. It’s about time they were rewritten with menstruation in mind,’ Gabriella Holmes, one of the co-founders of the ‘Address The Dress Code’ campaign explained.

The issue of white shorts in women’s football has also reached the highest levels of the sport.

After Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses began their victorious Euro 2022 campaign with a win over Austria earlier this year, England forward Beth Mead said that she had given feedback to kit manufacturer Nike regarding the impracticality of women players wearing white shorts. 

Today’s joint statement from Puma and City read: ‘Puma and Manchester City take pride in working closely with our players to support them and create the best possible environment for them to feel comfortable and perform at their highest level.

In July a group of protestors called on Wimbledon organisers to abandon their all-white dress code for women players who are menstruating 

England star Beth Mead spoke to Nike about the issue of white shorts in women’s sport earlier this year

‘As a result of player feedback and the underlying topic of women wanting to move away from wearing white shorts while on their periods, we have decided to implement changes to the products we offer to our female players.

‘Starting from the 2023/24 season, we will not be providing white shorts to our female athletes. We will always provide an alternative for our home, away and third kits to solve the issue highlighted by women across all sports.’

When asked about the issue last week, manager Gareth Taylor said: ‘We’ve always spoken about supporting the players as best we possibly can, about improving levels for the girls as much as we possibly can, not just at this club, across the board for women’s football.

‘I think it’s something we need to look at for sure, just so that we are offering the top-level support that we need to for the players.’

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