Arsenal bridge 21-year with home kit change in FA Cup

Today sees Arsenal take on Liverpool in the FA Cup third round at Emirates Stadium.

For the third year in a row, the Gunners will wear an all-white kit as part of the ‘No More Red’ initiative to counteract youth violence in London.

The kit shown on the right is what was used away to Oxford United last season while in 2022 a shirt based on the adidas Condivo 20 design was worn away to Nottingham Forest. We haven’t yet illustrated the 2024 shirt as, in the past two years, those worn in the match have differed slightly from the publicity pictures released beforehand.

The two previous outings have of course come in away games but the home draw means the Emirates crowd will witness the phenomenon for first time. Of course, Arsenal in white means that Liverpool could play in their first-choice kit but it appears that they too have decided to forgo red and will play in purple.

Historically, it was not all that unusual to see a team in an alternative kit at home in the FA Cup as the competition rules meant that both teams had to change in the event of a clash. When the two back-up shirts also clashed, one of the side would have to wear a third shirt – in 1936, Arsenal wore red and white hoops at home to Liverpool and in 1953 they appeared in Newcastle-like black and white stripes against Blackpool.

The last time Arsenal wore a change kit in an FA Cup match played at their home ground was due to another occasional cup custom that no longer occurs.

The specific phraseology of the last sentence might provide a clue – while Arsenal wore their blue second kit at Highbury on January 25, 2003, it was not technically a ‘home’ game.

Back then, fixtures could be reversed by agreement between the two sides involved and so, when Farnborough Town were drawn at home to Arsenal, they opted to host the match in North London so as to benefit from the greater gate receipts.

The match programme was a joint production between the two clubs – all proceeds went to Farnborough – and the signs outside the ground, as well as the scoreboard and big screen, showed the non-league club’s name first.

Arsenal did still occupy the home dressing room, but the sign on the door of the other one said ‘Farnborough Town’ rather than ‘Visitors’.

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Farnborough also kept priority in terms of kits, wearing their red and white striped shirts – usual sponsors Aimita were replaced for the day by a national newspaper – with Arsenal switching.

Arsenal, the FA Cup holders, won the game 5-1 and went on to retain the cup, the first time they had done so.