Mary Earp’s England goalkeeper shirt has sold out despite a lack of promotion from Nike.
On Tuesday, Earps was in action in Manchester United’s first ever Champions League game as they took on PSG at home.
At half time, there was no score but United hadn’t had a shot, it was all one way traffic from PSG and who had denied them access? Mary Earps.
Seeing all those young fans wearing her replica shirt on Tuesday hammered home the staggering, misguided decision from Nike not to make her England goalkeeper’s shirt available to the fans during the World Cup.
Earps was angered by the decision as her teammates discussed their family members purchasing their shirts and decided to act.
She even offered to fund the production of the shirt but Nike still said it wasn’t possible.
Eventually, after England lost the final to Spain and Earps picked up the Golden Glove award, Nike issued a statement saying it was “working towards solutions for future tournaments”.
Earps responded on her Instagram account on August 23 by writing: “Is this your version of an apology/taking accountability/a powerful statement of intent?”
On August 24, Nike said they acknowledged the “unprecedented passion and interest in women’s football this year” and accepted that, during the tournament, they “didn’t serve those fans who wished to show their passion and support to the squad’s goalkeepers”.
They promised that “limited quantities of goalkeeper jerseys for England, the U.S., France and the Netherlands” would be “sold through the federation websites over the coming days”.
However, there was no announcement when they went on sale, no big fanfare, they just appeared on the FA website on Monday, retailing at £99.95. In contrast, the England men’s black home goalkeeper shirt retails at £38 on Sports Direct’s website.
And then they disappeared again as they all sold out.
Earps thanked fans for their “incredible support”, though commented she “didn’t realise these were going on sale.”
In an alternate universe, Nike would have coordinated the release with Earps, made them more readily available and affordable for the fans who have waited so patiently.
Instead, the way the company has gone about rectifying their initial oversight seems like a whole new insult to the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award recipient.
Meanwhile, Nike are yet to put the U.S., France or Netherlands women’s goalkeeper shirts on sale.
Nike say more shirts are coming and Earps herself has clarified the situation saying: “More are coming before the end of the year and in more sizes (adults and children).”
As The Athletic summarised, “When the world’s best female goalkeeper asks for her shirt to be sold and for it to be done properly… Just Do It.”