The 2012 season was Arsenal Ladies Football Club's 25th season since forming in 1987. The club participated in the second edition of the FA WSL, England's top flight for women's football since 2011, winning it for a second season in a row with an unbeaten campaign.[1] Arsenal also played in the FA Women's Cup, and the FA WSL Cup, winning the latter against Birmingham City in October.[2] They also competed in the UEFA Women's Champions League, losing at the Semi Final stage to Frankfurt.[3]
As this season bridged the gap between the Men's Team's2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the team wore two different sets of kits during each half of the season.
Arsenal's home, away, third and goalkeeper outfits featured an anniversary crest to mark the club's 125th anniversary. The crest featured 15 laurel leaves on the left side of the crest to reflect the detail on the reverse of the sixpence pieces paid by 15 men to establish the Club in Woolwich in 1886. The 15 oak leaves to the right of the crest paid tribute to the founders who would meet in the local Royal Oak pub. Underneath the crest was one of the club's first recorded mottos – "Forward" – with the anniversary dates of 1886 and 2011 either side.
Home: The home kit was based on Nike Classic 2011 template in the club's traditional red and white colours, with red trim on the arms.
Away: The away kit was based on Nike Harlequin 2011 template. The front of the away kit was divided into two-halves in navy blue and one turquoise, inspired by some of the away kits in the 1990s which featured the same colour scheme. The diagonal design represented the gnomon (the pointer) which casts the shadow on a sundial – to commemorate the original Dial Square sundial on the site of the Arsenal munitions factory in Woolwich, where the club was founded in 1886. The back of the shirt was entirely navy blue, with one sleeve navy and the other turquoise. A stripe runs down each sleeves, broken into three parts to further represent the Dial Square sundial. The away shorts were navy blue, as were the socks
Third: The yellow/maroon away kit from last season was retained as a third kit with 125th anniversary celebratory maroon badge.
Keeper: The goalkeeper kits featured a stunning graphic running down from the bottom of the arms to the side of the shirt, which was part of Nike's 2011 goalkeeper template also worn by other clubs as well. The first-choice kit was mainly navy with orange detailing. The alternative kits were dark green with yellow detailing and grey with turquoise detailing, respectively.
Kit usage (2011-12)
Kit
Combination
Usage
Home
Red body, white sleeves, white shorts, white socks.
Nike released a new set of home, away and goalkeeper kits for the 2012–13 season. The club reverted to their traditional crest, after using an anniversary crest last season.
Home: During the final two years with Nike, Nike ditched the white sleeves the club's well known for. The shirt has a white wide stripe on each sleeve, flanked by two dark red, narrower stripes. It has a red V-neck collar which is the same colour as the primary shirt colour. The shirt is complemented by white shorts with a dark-red trim, and white socks with a red horizontal stripe. Red socks with white horizontal stripe were used in some away games. Arsenal revealed that the kit would be used for the next two seasons.
Away: Arsenal's new away kit, was revealed on 12 July 2012, with the much speculated purple and black hooped kit being officially confirmed.[14] The reason behind the kit was to commemorate Arsenal's past, enhancing the "royal" theme from the Diamond Jubilee to remind Arsenal fans of the Royal Arsenal that once existed through the colour purple. The shirt featured red cuffs and detailing, and additionally featured hoops of different width on the arms. The purple and black hooped socks, bearing one red stripe each, paid tribute to Chapman's legacy and his introduction of hooped socks, which according to him, was said to make it easier for his players to pick each other out on the pitch. The hoops and red trim on the sleeves was designed the kit a modern and unique flavour to distinguish the club from others in the Premier League.
Third: Arsenal's yellow and maroon 2010–11 away kit was retained as a third kit yet again with club badge reverted to traditional badge after last season with anniversary badge.
Keeper: Nike launched a new set of goalkeeper strips for the 2012–13 season. The primary strip was predominantly green featuring several tones of the same colour on the arms. The alternatives were pink and gold, based on the same template.
