Nike has agreed to put a “limited” number of Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper shirts on sale after bowing to pressure from fans over their availability.
England Women’s goalkeeper shirts will be sold through the FA website, after Nike’s move to stock additional kits from the Lionesses, as well as the equivalents from the USA, France and the Netherlands.
Nike said in a statement: “Nike has secured limited quantities of goalkeeper jerseys for England, (the United States), 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 previous decision by the sports clothing giant to only offer fans England Women’s home and away shirts – while both of England’s men’s goalkeeping shirts were available to purchase – was branded “very disappointing and very hurtful” by Earps ahead of the tournament.
Nike originally defended its decision after Sunday’s final, which saw Spain beat England 1-0 in Sydney, saying they were “working towards solutions for future tournaments”.
That statement was again called out by Earps on social media, while a change.org petition calling for Nike to sell replicas of her kit had reached more than 150,000 signatures before the company’s u-turn.
The Manchester United player picked up the FIFA Best award for the world’s best goalkeeper earlier this year, as well as taking home the Golden Glove from the Women’s World Cup, after saving a penalty in Sunday’s final defeat.
Former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch welcomed the decision on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing: “I find it extraordinary that a major brand got themselves into this pickle in 1st place but now it will be very interesting to see what “limited quantity” means and if they come in all sizes, as I suspect a large number of fans of all ages & shapes will want one.”