Published: 22:55, 9 Oct 2023Updated: 23:03, 9 Oct 2023
Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper shirt has sold out a matter of hours after Nike’s belated decision to make it available for the public to buy.
The 30-year-old was the standout star at England’s run to the Women’s World Cup final in the summer, winning the Golden Glove award at the tournament.
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Earps endeared herself to the nation over the summer for her stellar performances and great characterCredit: Getty
However, kit manufacturer Nike decided against making a shirt available to buy for the second consecutive tournament having also not been on sale during England’s victorious European Championship winning campaign in the summer of 2022.
Earps hit out at the ‘disappointing and very hurtful’ decision by the American sportswear brand having learnt the issues had not been rectified in April as goalkeeper were excluded from promotional pictures for the launch of the Lionesses’ World Cup kit. She even offered to pay for the costs of producing the shirts herself.
It’s understood Nike didn’t initially sell the shirts because female goalkeeper kits are not part of its commercial strategy.
But after more than 170,000 people signed a petition urging Nike to change its mind, the decision was reversed.
In August a spokesman for Nike said: “Nike has secured limited quantities of goalkeeper jerseys for England, US, France and the Netherlands to be sold through the federation websites over the coming days, and we are also in conversations with our other federation partners.
“We recognise that during the tournament we didn’t serve those fans who wished to show their passion and support to the squad’s goalkeepers. We are committed to retailing women’s goalkeeping jerseys for major tournaments in the future.”
The ‘limited’ supply was put on sale on Monday without an official announcement by Nike.
Several sizes had already sold out before fans received emails from the England store, alerting them that the “Women’s Nike Goalkeeper Stadium Shirt 2024 with Earps 1 printing”, in either yellow, pink or green, was available to buy for £99.95.
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Earps thanked fans after hearing the good newsCredit: instagram @1maryearps
And it wasn’t long before all the stock had been bought, much to the delight of Earps.
She said on social media: “Didn’t realise these were going on sale today. And they’ve already sold out [crying laughter and clapping emojis].
“More are coming before the end of the year and in more sizes [kids & adults] – so stay tuned [love heart emoji].
“Thank you for all your incredible support on this. You guys have made this happen.”
The Times reports that on Monday evening an eBay seller had already listed the green shirt at £199.99, while another had the yellow design for £159.99.
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