Arsenal Decided To Wear All White Kit To Take A Stand Against Knife Crime

You may have noticed the Arsenal all-white kit when they played against Nottingham Forest on Sunday the 9^thof January 2022; for their FA Cup game, otherwise known as The Football Association Challenge Cup, the team decided to switch out the red in their uniform and keep it all white to take a stand against youth violence, known as the club’s ‘No More Red’ campaign.

The team members and the kit sponsors adidas are working together to build on the work being done with young people by their Arsenal in the Community initiative; actor Idris Elba and club legend Ian Wright are onboard as the mentors in the programme.

This initiative comes after last week’s confirmation of a record 30 teenage knife crime fatalities across London in 2021. Idris Elba spoke to Sky Sports News: “The idea that Arsenal are going to come out in an all-white kit and say ‘No More Red’ will hopefully make people think ‘Hang on, what’s going on here?’ – then look further and try and find out more. I hope it makes an impact that ripples into other football clubs and inspires other collaboration ideas, and investment in practical things to help young people, whether that’s football pitches, or youth centres like the one I went to in Forest Gate where I played sport and where I actually fell in love with film.”

Idris Elba also spoke about the programme and said, “From the time young people leave school, until the time they’re at home with family, there is often a void, a dangerous spike of nothing to do, where nothing can easily turn to something dangerous. If there continues to be no options for this after-school period, we will always see gangs form. Let’s create options for these young people.”

In addition to this, Ian Wright said, “Every young person deserves the opportunity to express themselves. The opportunity to exist within a safe environment. The opportunity to live free from fear of violence. We can never accept loss of life through youth violence as ‘normal’ in our city and it’s so important that we all work together to create a better environment for young people. By giving young people more places to play sport, more support, and access to individuals who can inspire them, together we can help make a difference to young people in London.”

The all-white shirts will not be available for purchase, instead they will be awarded by Arsenal to people and organisations tackling the causes of youth violence. In between June 2020 and June 2021, London has been more than 10,000 knife crime offences; therefore, this campaign is an inspirational step towards helping and standing up against knife crimes and other youth violence.