The Villa men's and women's teams have expressed concerns about the uncomfortable shirts
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Aston Villa women will wear the club’s Castore home kit for their Women’s Super League opener against Manchester United on Sunday despite complaints from players.
Concerns have been raised by players in the men’s and women’s teams about the quality of the kit and how much sweat it retains.
Villa and Castore have reportedly been in talks about the issue but there will not be a resolution before the weekend’s fixtures.
Villa's women host United on Sunday, while the men's team take on Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday at Villa Park.
Villa players have complained about the uncomfortable shirts (Image credit: Getty Images)
"[We have] similar concerns to what the men's team have," said Aston Villa women’s manager Carla Ward.
"I think it was highlighted early in our pre-season from the men's side and backed up by the women's."
She added: "As far as I'm concerned it's for the club and Castore to deal with. My focus has to be the weekend."
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Ollie Watkins models the Aston Villa away shirt (Image credit: Castore/Aston Villa)
The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday that Villa will terminate their contract with Castore early due to the wet-look shirts.
A spokesperson for the kit supplier said: “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.
“As 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.”
Newcastle United, Wolves and Rangers are among the other clubs to use Castore kits, as well as high-profile competitors in other sports such as tennis player Andy Murray and the Red Bull and McLaren Formula 1 teams.
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
