After months of petitions being signed by football fans all over the globe, the world’s best sportswear brand, Nike, agreed to sell England’s female goalkeeper shirts.
The final of the 2022 UEFA European Championships marked the most-watched women’s football game on UK television. More than a record-breaking 87,100 fans attended the England Lionesses match against Germany at Wembley Stadium.
The Lionesses’ historic Euros victory led to the squad successfully calling on the government to implement high-quality and equal access to sports and PE sessions for all male and female pupils.
The European win also generated a huge increase in fans of women’s football.
During the 2023 World Cup, Nike, the manufacturer of the England football kit, was criticised by England Goalkeeper Mary Earps and her fans for refusing to sell the female goalkeeper shirts.
A petition, that urged the sportswear brand to stock the shirt and to support all female goalkeepers, circled on social media platforms and was signed by more than 170,000 people.
In October this year, the Football Association (FA) put a limited number of goalkeeper shirts on sale. On Monday 11 December, another load of shirts went on sale and were made available on the Nike store.
The number of home shirts made available in the FA and Nike stores was equal to that of a male goalkeeper shirt at a major tournament.
The FA reported that it had prepared a large number of shirts for football fans, noting that it received an “unprecedented” demand for more when the shirts sold out almost immediately in October.
After the rapid sell-out, Earps took to Instagram to address her fans, saying: “We did it gang”.
It was no different this time, as the female goalkeeper shirts were sold within five minutes in the England store.
Nike has since confirmed, that after the sell-out, goalkeeper kits will be available for fans to purchase in all future England Women shirt sales.
After losing to Spain in the 2023 World Cup final, Earps, who is also the number-one Goalkeeper for Manchester United, was awarded the Golden Glove.
So far this year, Earps’ performances on the pitch have seen her win the World Cups’s Golden Glove, the Best Women’s Goalkeeper at FIFA’s The Best Awards for 2022, BBC Women’s Player of the Year and the Women’s Super League Golden Glove award.
When receiving the Women’s Player of the Year award at the Manchester United training ground in Carrington, Earps said: “I am truly honoured to be BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year. Thank you so much for voting for me.”
“To be the first goalkeeper to get their hands on the award is incredibly special and I am incredibly grateful. Hopefully, one of many more to come and thank you so much again,” she added.
In 2023, Earps has been played by England Manager Serina Wiegman in every England game, for every minute.
The award-winning goalkeeper has since been named as one of the six contenders for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023.
Once again, Earps has also been named as one of the three finalists in the running for the Best Women’s Goalkeeper award at FIFA’s The Best Awards for 2023 to 2024.
In an inspiring acceptance speech at FIFA’s The Best Awards for the 2022 to 2023 season, Earps dedicated her award to “anyone who’s ever been in a dark place”.
“Just know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Keep going. You can achieve anything you set your mind to,” the goalkeeper continued.
Earps concluded her speech with a nod to her brand’s – MAE27 – slogan. She said: “Sometimes success looks like this — collecting trophies — sometimes it’s just waking up and putting one step in front of the other. There’s only one of you in the world, and that’s more than good enough. Be unapologetically yourself.”
