Arsenal women arrived at the match in white socks, which were the same colour as Chelsea women’s socks. This caused a 30-minute delay to kick off, as Arsenal women were made to change into black Chelsea socks, with blue tape used to cover the Chelsea emblem. Chelsea women went on to beat Arsenal women 3-1, with Lauren James scoring one, and Sjoeke Nüsken scoring two goals. Arsenal’s only goal was an own goal accidentally scored by Catarina Macario in the 86th minute.
Football rules state that there can be no part of a team kit that is the same colour as the others, meaning as weird as it seems that white socks caused a 30-minute delay, all officials were only following regulation. The different colours make the teams clear not only for fans watching in the stadium but also for the referee and officials regulating the game. Imagine how much longer VAR would take if officials also had to work out which leg belonged to what player because they were wearing the same-coloured socks.
Chelsea women are currently in a race with Manchester City women for the top spot and are currently one game and three points behind, putting them in second place. Arsenal women are sitting in third and are six points behind Chelsea women. Arsenal women are thought to be out of the running for the top spot.