There are several versions of the story behind why Arsenal plays in red. According to Wikipedia, the shirts were a 'generous gift' from Nottingham Forest. When several Forest players moved to London for work, they were given a set of shirts and a ball by their former club. However, this story could be a myth. Other accounts, based on newspaper archives, suggest that the players bought their shirts themselves from a men's outfitter on Wellington Street. The most likely explanation is that it was Arsenal's co-founder Fred Beardsley who proposed that the new team should wear red, perhaps because he already owned such a shirt from his time as a player at Nottingham Forest.
There are several versions of the story behind why Arsenal plays in red. According to Wikipedia, the shirts were a 'generous gift' from Nottingham Forest. When several Forest players moved to London for work, they were given a set of shirts and a ball by their former club. However, this story could be a myth. Other accounts, based on newspaper archives, suggest that the players bought their shirts themselves from a men's outfitter on Wellington Street. The most likely explanation is that it was Arsenal's co-founder Fred Beardsley who proposed that the new team should wear red, perhaps because he already owned such a shirt from his time as a player at Nottingham Forest.