- Aston Villa’s 2023/24 home kit has proved controversial due to its wet look
- Captain Rachel Corsie insisted players wanted to wear the kit despite concerns
- She said wearing the away kit was ‘never an option’ after their loss to Man United
Aston Villa captain Rachel Corsie said players wanted to wear their controversial Castore home kit for their season opener against Manchester United, despite concerns about its wet look.
Along with Villa’s male players, the women’s team expressed concern in the run-up to Sunday’s WSL opener about the shirts.
Football commentator Jacqui Oatley said Villa’s women’s side were ‘dreading’ wearing the ‘clingy’ shirts.
Mail Sport understands no Villa player chose to change into a fresh shirt at half-time and the match passed without issue after such big build-up on its durability.
Corsie, speaking after a 2-1 defeat to United, dismissed the idea wearing the away shirt was an option.
Aston Villa captain Rachel Corie has insisted players were keen to wear their controversial new home shirt during their season opener against Man United
The kit appears to become soaked within minutes of match action and weigh down players
Football commentator Jacqui Oatley claimed before the game that Villa’s women’s side were ‘ dreading’ wearing the ‘clingy’ shirts.
Mail Sport understands no Villa player chose to change into a fresh shirt at half-time
‘We wanted to wear the home shirt,’ she said. ‘It’s first game of the season so you want to be in your home kit.’
Pressed on if the club are working towards a resolution moving forwards, Corsie added: ‘It is being dealt with, yeah. The club have been really supportive.’
The issue of the shirt was put to manager Carla Ward in her post-match press conference, but Villa’s press officer intervened before she could answer, insisting Ward had spoken on it enough.
It remains a prominent issue here at Villa, with Villa’s male team having criticised the shirts, saying they are uncomfortable because they are retaining too much sweat.
After beating Brighton 6-1 at Villa Park 24 hours before the women turned out, midfielder John McGinn was asked on TNT Sports whether ‘the shirt doesn’t feel too heavy now’, to which he responded: ‘It’s still heavy, don’t worry about that.’
‘Obviously there has been a lot of talk about that this week but when you get here and it’s the start of the season everyone is buzzing it’s under way now,’ Corsie added.
‘It’s been a long break and there’s just a huge buzz that we’re not under way. It is going to be the best season in the WSL I believe and we want to make sure we do a really good job so things like the shirts… once you’re in the game and you’re competing you just do what you can as well as you can.’
The shirts did not appear to suffer any issues as the match progressed on Sunday
John McGinn joked Aston Villa’s shirts are still heavy following their victory against Brighton
Villa could terminate their partnership with Castore because of concerns over the shirts
United went on to beat Villa 2-1 in their first Women’s Super League game of the season
