In England you only need a black shirt, teams are forbidden to wear black (not sure how far up that goes though) and the kit is changed every 2 years.
Potential kit clash - advice
- Thread starter TSHudson
- Start date
Associations can apply to the FA to wear non-black uniform. I think Dorset do. Somerset have purple shirts for young referees under 16 (as a visual clue to cut down on abuse).
These also get dispensation:
Premier League
EFL
Women's Super League
Women's Championship
Panel and Contributory League status competitions
Hmm not sure on contrib. We have to wear black on those.
Ah I'm looking at the FA handbook and their actual wording is that they can have exemption if they apply [each season] - presumably they haven't applied / lapsed
West Riding County FA also use purple shirts for U18 referees.
As for the OP, league rules probably dictate that this matter should be decided by a change of shirts by one, other or both teams. Any disputes should be referred to the league. Don't kick off without being satisfied that you can distinguish the players from each other for the duration of the game. If you decide to play make sure everyone knows you will not be held liable for misplaced passes or incorrect decisions made by you as a result of the kit clash. Once you've kicked off, don't abandon simply for this reason. If however it got dark and you had difficulty distinguishing between the players, you could abandon for bad light and not because of a kit clash. Oooh, look at me getting creative with law interpretation... again.
As for the OP, league rules probably dictate that this matter should be decided by a change of shirts by one, other or both teams. Any disputes should be referred to the league. Don't kick off without being satisfied that you can distinguish the players from each other for the duration of the game. If you decide to play make sure everyone knows you will not be held liable for misplaced passes or incorrect decisions made by you as a result of the kit clash. Once you've kicked off, don't abandon simply for this reason. If however it got dark and you had difficulty distinguishing between the players, you could abandon for bad light and not because of a kit clash. Oooh, look at me getting creative with law interpretation... again.
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