Aston Villa left viewers of their FA Cup clash against West Ham confused when they were seen wearing an all-black kit.
Villa are hosting the Hammers in the third round of the iconic competition on Friday night in what is the first match of Graham Potter’s tenure in charge of the visitors after the former Chelsea boss was appointed on Thursday.
However, as the action got underway, there was a marked difference with how the home side looked.
Instead of the the usual claret and blue strip that Unai Emery’s side sport for matches, Villa were simply wearing white shorts with a plain black shirt and black socks.
The club announced earlier this week that the players would be wearing the special one-off strip to mark the club’s 150th anniversary.
This kit will only be worn once and has a retro feel to it, with just numbers on the back of shirts, but no names.
When announcing the decision, the club explaining the reasoning behind the move.
‘In 1878, Aston Villa became the first team in the UK to put a crest on their playing kit, adopting the Scottish lion rampant.
‘The motifs were sourced from Scotland by William McGregor himself and in honour of our Club’s pioneering spirit, a crest inspired by the one that featured on those kits has been authentically redrawn from the earliest sources we have.
‘While paying homage to our beloved club’s history, the shirts will also feature adidas’ Aeroready technology as well as the famous three stripes in all black.
‘Principal partners Betano and Trade Nation have both kindly donated their branding space back to the club for the fixture, allowing us to create this historic look.’
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