The 2011 season was Arsenal Ladies Football Club's 24th season since forming in 1987. The club participated in the first edition of the FA WSL, England's new top flight for women's football. In April, Arsenal played in the first ever WSL match, defeating Chelsea 1–0 at Imperial Fields, thanks to a goal from Gilly Flaherty, the first goal in WSL history.[1] Arsenal won the inaugural title,[2] and also played in the FA Women's Cup, and the FA WSL Cup, winning the former against Bristol Academy[3] in May and the latter against Birmingham City in September.[4] They also competed in the UEFA Women's Champions League, losing at the Semi Final stage to Lyon.[5]
As this season bridged the gap between the Men's Team's2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, the team wore two different sets of kits during each half of the season.
Nike released a new set of kits for the 2010–11 season.
Home: After the controversial home kit of the last two seasons which ditched Arsenal's iconic white sleeves, the club returned to their traditional design. The kit was inspired by the home kits used in 1970s, which featured a white round neck collar.
Away: Arsenal's away kit combined the club's traditional yellow away colour with maroon, a shade similar to the club's original kits. The kit featured maroon pinstripes and V-neck with maroon shorts and hooped socks.
Keeper: Arsenal goalkeepers wore four different kits throughout the season. The most conspicuous feature of the kits were the black zig-zags on the arms, based on the template Nike used in 2010 for its main clubs. The primary kit was grey, while the alternatives were black, turquoise and pink.
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.
