• The huge WSL encounter at Stamford Bridge was delayed by 30 minutes
• Arsenal had to change socks after bringing the wrong color to the game 
• I fancy Man United on Sunday… something has to give for Jurgen’s juggernaut – It’s All Kicking off podcast

Chelsea Women taunted their Arsenal counterparts after the Gunners brought the wrong-coloured socks for the WSL clash at Stamford Bridge, Jeorge Bird reports for Mail Online.

Kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes due to the mishap, and to compound Arsenal’s misery, Chelsea ran out 3-1 winners.

Emma Hayes’ side is three points clear at the top of the WSL table, ahead of their closest challengers, Manchester City, who have a game in hand. The Blues are six points ahead of Arsenal.

Chelsea couldn’t resist the opportunity to taunt Arsenal about the incident as they posted on X: ‘London is Blue, and so are your socks.’

Arsenal are understood to have brought white socks instead of red, which resulted in a clash with Chelsea.

Both teams wear white socks as part of their home kits, but with Chelsea, the hosts, Arsenal, were forced to change colors just minutes before kick-off.

The Gunners eventually settled the dispute by wearing Chelsea’s black away socks. However, they had to tape over the Nike logo, with blue tape used in most cases. The Gunners confirmed they have paid for the socks themselves.

Nike’s rivals, Adidas, sponsor Arsenal, so they cannot show the logo of Chelsea’s kit manufacturer.

Chelsea wore blue socks when they played at the Emirates in December.

Also, teams are not allowed to wear the same colored shirts; shorts and socks must also be different.

They initially warmed up wearing their usual white and red socks before being forced to switch

Both teams were forced to come back out for a second warm-up due to the delay.

The game eventually kicked off at 7.30 pm, half an hour after the scheduled start time.

Arsenal women’s official X account refused to reveal the exact cause of the delay but explained the match had been delayed due to a ‘kit issue.’

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s official social media account posted a cryptic tweet, adding: ‘Ready to work our socks off.’

Ian Wright was among the high-profile names who hit out at the gaffe. He fumed over the delay as thousands of supporters waited for the game to begin.

Ready to work our socks off. 🧦#CFCW pic.twitter.com/Gkf7r7pzNx

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 15, 2024

The Arsenal men’s legend described the saga as ’embarrassing,’ posting on his X profile: ‘Embarrassing this. Ridiculous.’ about the delay.

Furious supporters also fumed at the incident, with one user posting online: ‘Quite agree. It was the season’s biggest WSL match, and someone in the kit department messed up badly. How on earth could that have happened?’

Another similar post stated: ‘Never in a million years would I expect something like socks to be a big deal.’