September 13th 2023.
Mary Earps, the England goalkeeper, has insisted that she will continue to push for more visibility and ensure Nike produce replicas of her goalkeeper shirt in future. Earps earned the Golden Glove award for a series of outstanding displays at the recent Women’s World Cup, where her heroic penalty save was not enough to prevent a 1-0 defeat against Spain in the final.
However, fans of the Manchester United player were unable to buy her shirt during the tournament as Nike refused to make them available due to a ‘commercial decision’. This sparked outrage amongst supporters, with a petition reaching over 150,000 signatures. Eventually, Nike announced that ‘limited qualities’ of the shirt would be made available for sale.
In an interview with ITV News, Earps spoke of her disappointment with Nike’s decision. ‘I feel really strongly that there’s a large group of people who are not being served by our main sponsor,’ she said. ‘It’s a really damaging message to send to young kids. And that again, just ties into my passion for football, my passion for goalkeeping. I feel really strongly about you know, making goalkeeping cool and make it accessible to people.’
Earps also revealed that the women’s team will resume their dispute with the Football Association regarding performance-related bonuses after the squad agreed to pause discussions on the eve of the World Cup in Australia. The Lionesses are said to be unhappy about the removal of FA bonuses after it was announced that players would receive individual payments directly from FIFA.
‘Nobody wants to fight with anyone,’ Earps added. ‘Everyone’s here to all sing off the same hymn sheet and or push the game in in the right direction. And I’m sure if we all want that we’ll all have a positive conclusion. We’re due to meet up really soon. And I think that’ll be now everyone’s had a little bit of time to rest and digest and process we can pick up those conversations and move forward as a collective.’
Mary Earps has been an important role model for young girls and fans alike, and she is determined to use her voice for good and ensure that more is done to make goalkeeping cool and accessible. The Lionesses’ first match of the newly formed UEFA Women’s Nations League is set to be on September 22 and Earps is hopeful of a positive solution to the ongoing dispute with the Football Association.
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