Arsenal Women's Star Calls Out Adidas For 'New Training Gear' Post, Immediately Deletes Tweet
Arsenal women's star Beth Mead has deleted a tweet in which she called out Adidas over a lack of training gear.
At 9am on Wednesday, the club's official account for the women's side posted a tweet advertising the new training range.
The image featured midfielder Leah Williamson in the promotional material for the new kit, available from the official Arsenal Direct store alongside a slew of other freshly released items.
But England forward Mead threw shade at the brand and her club, claiming that her team do not receive training kit in the same way as the men's do.
"Would be nice if we actually got this training kit," the 26-year-old wrote, tagging Adidas and adding an eyes emoji.
Mead, who scored a hat-trick for England in the 20-0 trouncing of Latvia in November, then took the tweet down shortly after.
But the bombshell she dropped brought reaction aplenty from fans on social media who supported her speaking out:
@bmeado9 you might’ve been asked to delete that tweet or did it yourself, but between you and @liawaelti talking about this, be assured that the fans hear you and are behind you. It takes guts to speak out about issues and we respect you a hell of a lot for it. Keep going 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
— A (@ariellawfc) January 5, 2022
Fair play to Beth Mead for tweeting Adidas’s, equal rights are so important in football , they deserve just as much as what the mens side get. It’s an absolute disgrace that they’ve been neglected with just simple basic training wear that let’s face it everybody can order #AWFC
— Josh Bunting (@Buntingfootball) January 5, 2022
@bmeado9 keep speaking up for what’s right, we’re all behind you ❤️
— chloe (@williamscns) January 5, 2022
Thanks for speaking up @bmeado9
— Z (@JordansAlexia) January 5, 2022
We're right behind you❤️
The women's team players deserve better and I appreciate how we have been promoting equality for both our teams, but there's no point using Leah to promote the new kit when we won't get the font for them.
— Amartya (@amartyarsenal) January 5, 2022
We are with you @bmeado9 and @adidas @adidasUK, please do better pic.twitter.com/ngjlyOsRsj
@bmeado9 say what you will. We are all behind you on this one. Speak up because what they are doing isn’t right.
— Liv (@livfcr) January 5, 2022
Respect respect and respect for @bmeado9 It is bad that she had to say it in the first place! And second it is really really bad that she had to delete it direct…
— Femke (@femkedemolxx) January 5, 2022
All the Arsenal woman’s and other woman football players that also have this problem my respect do you have!🤍
Mead's tweet prompted a discussion in equality still not being there at Arsenal, with quotes from the Gunners' Swiss Lia Wälti emerging regarding anthem jackets for the FA Cup final.
Sometimes Arsenal try to do the right thing, however it doesn’t always work and it seems like half an effort," Wälti said.
"In the FA Cup Final we had new jackets but only in sizes M and L men’s cut, so we looked like potato bags.
"It’s a nice gesture but it just wasn’t thought through. If they do something they should really do it properly. Arsenal men would never have to wear a women’s cut jacket."
whilst we’re on it, this is a translation of what lia wälti said about the jackets the team wore in the fa cup final 🤷🏼♀️ https://t.co/7Pr7bGtpFD pic.twitter.com/WlVgJkpevf
— 🌻🍊 (@amy6amy) January 5, 2022
Similarly, there was huge controversy last month as Harlequins' women's rugby team were the men's kit at Twickenham.
Harlequins are wearing their Big Game 13 jersey today, but seems they only had player-issue jerseys in men’s sizes.
— Rucked Magazine (@rucked_mag) December 27, 2021
So Quins Women had to take the field for the most high profile women’s club game ever in kit that clearly didn’t fit.
Women’s rugby deserves better. pic.twitter.com/YGZHhWZMid
The kits looked incredibly oversized and it later emerged Adidas made it in "one fit".
Josh Lawless