Aston Villa women’s captain explains decision to wear controversial ‘wet-look’ kit live on BBC in WSL opener
ASTON VILLA chose to wear the club’s sweat-heavy home kit in their Women’s Super League opener versus Manchester United despite the controversy surrounding it.
The first match of the season was shown live on the BBC with build-up overshadowed by the “wet-look” kit fiasco.
Villa stars wore the shirt despite it supposedly retaining sweat and becoming heavy for players.
Both the men’s and women’s teams have complained about it to manufacturer Castore as they claim it impacts performance.
With no solution yet found, the kit was on show as Aston Villa lost 2-1 to United due to a 92nd minute winner by Rachel Williams.
After the game, club captain Rachel Corsie revealed the squad chose to wear the shirt despite their criticisms.
She said: “We wanted to wear the home shirt. It’s first game of the season so you want to be in your home kit.”
Pressed for more on the decision, she added: “It is being dealt with. The club have been really supportive.
“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 underway now.”
Manager Carla Ward said: “It’s up to the football club’s legal team and Castore to discuss that and deal with that.
“It’s something I’ve tried to completely ignore, as difficult as that is.
“The football club are in full control of that. They’ve been excellent with us, myself and the players around it.”
There have been reports that Villa could terminate their deal with Castore.
The kit manufacturers said in a statement: “We are working closely in collaboration with the club to address this issue as quickly as possible to meet the standards we expect.
“We would like to thank the club for their patience and support to date.”
The men’s team also wore the strip on Saturday as they hammered Brighton 6-1.