Arsenal will not wear red in north London derby for first time in 38 years

Arsenal will wear their black away kit for Sunday’s north London derby after their home kit was deemed incompatible with Tottenham Hotspur’s.

The Premier League, which consulted with the PGMOL arbitration body, ruled that Arsenal’s new home kit featured too much white.

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

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

Subsequently, there were discussions as to whether Arsenal could wear the home shirt with red socks and shorts, but this was also not considered appropriate.

Clubs typically choose new kit designs and order them from manufacturers months before a new campaign.

Rice ‘correctly sent off’ against Brighton

The decision means Spurs will have to wear their away kits when they face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium later this season.

“Both teams will wear their away kits in matches this season after the PGMOL and the Premier League decided that our 2024/25 home kit features too much white, clashing with Tottenham’s traditional colours, even with the option of red shorts and socks for us also being discussed,” Arsenal said.

“As a result, for the first time in recent NLD history, we will be wearing our new colours, with our black Adidas away kit donned at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where we will be aiming for a third consecutive victory at this venue.”

An independent panel has ruled that Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was rightly sent off against Brighton last weekend. In a decision that sparked much debate, Rice was shown a second yellow card for moving the ball away from Brighton defender Joel Veltman before a free-kick was taken.

The Premier League’s independent Major Match Incidents Panel, comprising former players and managers, a league representative and a refereeing body representative, wrote: “Rice knows what he’s doing: it’s a gentle gesture, but once the referee sees it he has no choice.”