Arsenal shirt deemed too white for north London derby

Arsenal will wear their black away kit for Sunday’s north London derby after their home shirt was judged to clash with Tottenham Hotspur’s strip.

The Premier League, which has consulted with refereeing body PGMOL, has ruled that Arsenal’s new home shirt features too much white.

According to the Arsenal Shirt Collection group, it will be the first time since the 1985-86 season that Arsenal have worn their away kit in a north London derby.

Telegraph Sport understands Arsenal were made aware before the start of the season that this season’s home kit could be deemed to feature too much white for the game against Spurs.

Subsequently there were discussions about whether Arsenal could wear the home shirt with red socks and shorts, but that was not deemed to be a suitable alternative either.

Clubs usually settle on designs for new kits and order them with manufacturers months in advance of a new campaign.

Rice ‘correctly sent off’ against Brighton

The ruling means that Spurs must wear their away kit when they play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium later this season.

“Both teams will be wearing their away strips in the fixtures this campaign, after the PGMOL and Premier League ruled that our 2024/25 home kit features too much white, thus clashing with Tottenham’s traditional colours, even with the option of red shorts and socks for us, which was also discussed,” Arsenal said.

“As a result, for the first time in recent ‘NLD’ history, we’ll be wearing our changed colours, with our black Adidas away kit being donned at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where we’ll aim to clinch a third-straight victory at the venue.”

Meanwhile, an independent panel has ruled that Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was correctly sent off against Brighton in their last game. In a decision that prompted huge debate, Rice was shown a second yellow card for nudging the ball away from Brighton defender Joel Veltman before a free-kick could be taken.

The Premier League’s independent Key Match Incidents panel – made up of former players or coaches, a league representative and a representative from the refereeing body – wrote: “Rice knows what he’s doing – it’s a gentle touch, but once the referee sees it he has no choice.”