Theo Walcott decides to call time on Arsenal’s long-standing shirt tradition
England winger goes it alone in wearing short sleeves on bitterly cold day while team mates stick with long
THEO WALCOTT broke with one of sport's strangest traditions for Arsenal's their 2-0 triumph over Hull City.
And he caused quite a stir.
Essentially, when you play for the Gunners you wear whatever sleeve length the captain wears.
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But the England winger obviously stood his ground at The Emirates at Saturday lunchtime by searing short sleeves - thought to be the first time and Arsenal man had failed to stick with the club tradition.
Twitter reacted quickly to his decision, with some fans annoyed at his gesture and others suggesting Theo's sleeves were merely rolled up...even in the bitter cold.
There have been many stories over the years about the uniformity of wearing the Gunners' shirt.
Former skipper Frank McLintock is is quoted in The Arsenal Shirt book as saying: "As the captain I never, ever made the decision on what sleeve length we would wear. It was discussed between the players in the dressing room and there were plenty of rows about it, but it was never just down to me."
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Tony Adams took a more hands-on role, which often amounted to taking a vote among the players.
There have been exceptions, such as when the team changed from long to short at half-time in the 2003 FA Cup game at Old Trafford, but the subs didn't - so Thierry Henry looked out of place after he came on.
But that was late in the game, not when the teams lined up.
Such is the uniformity that in an away game at Newcastle in December 2004 the team began the game wearing long sleeves but many players liked to change into a new shirt at half-time.
A theft from the dressing room meant that there wasn’t a full second set, so the call was made that all of the players would switch.
Over the years the likes of Brian Talbot, Lee Dixon and Mathieu Flamini have rolled up their sleeves.
Over to you, Theo.