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10th October 2023
09:05am BST
Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper shirt has sold out after Nike U-turned on its decision not to sell the jersey after huge public pressure and interest in the Lionesses during the World Cup.
The team only lost in the final - 1-0 to Spain - and goalkeeper, Earps, won the Golden Glove and was named keeper of the World Cup after she saved a penalty during the final.
Despite the nation rallying around the team following their golden run, Nike initially decided against selling replica goalkeeper shirts.
That led to a significant backlash, with more than 170,000 fans signing a petition calling on the brand to meet demand for the shirt.
Part of the petition reads: "We need to unite, and demand this decision is over turned. We need to show togetherness and support Mary and ask Nike to rethink their decision.
"Let’s make them see just how important our female goalkeepers are. How respected they are and how many young girls aspire to join them in the future.
"Any type of exclusion is unacceptable in this day and age and we need to show we will not stand for it. Mary and all female goalkeepers, we love and respect you. You are inspirational and we are behind you."
Nike U-turned on its decision in August, and shirts went on sale for £99.95 - and sold out pretty soon after, the Daily Mail reported.
The shirts were finally available on Monday but no announcement was made, meaning several fans missed out on the chance to buy one. Three colour options - green, yellow and pink, were available to supporters.
They're now up for sale for almost twice the price on resale sites, such as eBay.
The Mail said it understood hat more of Earps’ shirts will be made available later this year and that Nike have made a commitment to provide a greater supply of England women’s shirts in future.
In a statement in August Nike said: “The England GK jersey will be available in limited quantities on the FA’s website, in the coming weeks, and we are currently working to make youth GK jerseys available by the holiday season.
“We are committed to retailing women’s goalkeeping jerseys for major tournaments in the future.”
Earps had previously spoken out against the "hurtful" decision not to sell the top, saying at the time: “On a personal level it’s obviously hugely hurtful, considering the last 12 months especially.
“For my own family, friends and loved ones not to be able to buy my shirt, they’re just going to come out and wear normal clothes. All my team-mates, they’ve ordered a lot of shirts for their friends and family, they’re talking at the dinner table, 'I wasn’t able to get this', and I’m saying 'I wasn’t able to get it at all'.
“I know there’s a lot of people who have spent a tremendous amount of money on outfield shirts and then put ‘1 Earps’ on the back, which doesn’t sit well with me either.
“It’s a very scary message that’s being sent to goalkeepers worldwide that ‘you’re not important’.
“A lesson I’ve learned is that I should have made a public statement sooner maybe. I look back on it and I’ve tried everything. I offered to fund it myself and my team-mates have been really supportive.”
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