{"id":292579,"date":"2023-09-29T22:36:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T22:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=292579"},"modified":"2023-09-29T22:36:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T22:36:24","slug":"aston-villas-stars-forced-to-wear-wet-look-kits-for-tv-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/aston-villas-stars-forced-to-wear-wet-look-kits-for-tv-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa's stars forced to wear 'wet-look' kits for TV games"},"content":{"rendered":"
Aston Villa’s men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams will be forced to wear their \u2018wet-look\u2019 Castore shirts live on TV this weekend, despite players\u2019 concerns over performance and appearance, after the kit manufacturer failed to find a solution in time.<\/p>\n
Players from both teams complained over the design of the shirts, claiming the heavy material increases their sweat levels and weighs them down in matches.<\/p>\n
Mail Sport understands both teams were given the option to wear their white away kit, made of the same material, for their respective Premier League and Women\u2019s Super League matches, but have chosen to wear their traditional home strip.<\/p>\n
Carla Ward\u2019s women\u2019s team host Manchester United on BBC Two tomorrow at 12.30pm and players are said to be \u2018dreading\u2019 how they will look in the \u2018clingy\u2019 tops.<\/p>\n
Unai Emery\u2019s men, who welcome Brighton to Villa Park at 12.30pm on Saturday, first raised concerns over the shirts during their pre-season tour of the United States. Those sentiments were reiterated by Ward\u2019s players, who are understood to have been unhappy with the shirts during pre-season too.<\/p>\n
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Aston Villa will wear the Castore kit on Sunday despite the issues with how wet the shirt gets\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The sweat was particularly evident during Villa’s Europa Conference League clash last week<\/p>\n
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Villa’s women’s side are thought to have worn their training kit for a recent pre-season friendly<\/p>\n
Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n
Emery would not take questions on the issue in his pre-match press conference and only one question was permitted about it during Ward\u2019s earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
Ward said of her players: \u2018They have similar concerns to the men. It was highlighted early in the pre-season on the men\u2019s side and backed up by the women. As far as I\u2019m concerned it\u2019s over to the club and Castore to deal with.\u2019<\/p>\n
The idea of using last season\u2019s kit was a non-starter because Villa\u2019s front-of-shirt sponsor changed over the summer. Even if that were not a problem, it is unclear if there would be enough 2022-23 strips to go around.<\/p>\n
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Villa’s women’s team will wear kit on Sunday<\/p>\n
Premier League rules state teams must wear their home kit for home matches and any requests to change their kit for a match must be lodged with them at least a fortnight earlier.<\/p>\n
Mail Sport understands the club put pressure on Castore to find a solution before this weekend, with commentator Jacqui Oatley also calling on the manufacturer to secure both teams, but especially the female players, new shirts.<\/p>\n
\u2018They are dreading playing in it, for obvious reasons,\u2019 Oatley told Mail Sport earlier this week. \u2018No woman I know wants to get hot and sweaty and have their sports gear cling to them in all places, live on television in particular.<\/p>\n
\u2018It just shouldn\u2019t be happening. These women need to have a different kit to play in, however they do it. I absolutely think they have to come up with a solution before Sunday.\u2019<\/p>\n
Newcastle United are switching manufacturers from Castore to adidas at the end of this season but in a statement said they had no concerns over the quality of their current shirts. Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris holds a six per cent stake in adidas.<\/p>\n
Wolves men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams both wear Castore kits and it is understood they had the same issue, but the matter did not become public.<\/p>\n
After discussions with Castore, the fabric was altered during the off-season and players have reported an improvement at the start of this campaign.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Castore said: \u2018We are working closely with Aston Villa 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.<\/p>\n
\u2018As a proud new British brand, we always hold ourselves to the highest of standards and strive to do everything we can to constantly improve the performance of our products. This means addressing any customer concerns with promptness and humility.\u2019<\/p>\n
It’s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n