Mary Earps: England Lioness Goalkeeper shirts sell out within hours of release

Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper shirt has already sold out after Nike finally put the product on sale following a backlash during the World Cup.

England kit manufacturers, Nike, made the ‘extremely hurtful’ decision not to sell her shirt during the World Cup, with over 170,000 people signing a petition calling on Nike to change their mind.

Both the Lionesses home and away kits were up for sale but it is understood that Nike originally decided against selling Earps’ shirt for commercial reasons. A u-turn was made in August where they announced that they would retail the shirt but only in limited quantities.

After a long wait, the shirts were finally put on sale on Monday 9th October but with no announcement, meaning several fans missed their chance to buy one.

The shirt was available to fans in three different colour options; green, yellow, and pink with a retail price of £99.95 each. 

The release was such a surprise that the Lioness and Manchester United goalkeeper took to her instagram Monday night saying: “Didn’t realise these were going on sale today. And you’ve sold them out already.

“More are coming before the end of the year and in more sizes (kids & adults) – so stay tuned!

“Thank you all for your incredible support on this. YOU GUYS have made this happen!”

The shirt with ‘Earps 1’ on the back, was being resold on eBay for over double the retail price the same evening with multiple listings on the website.

A statement from Nike in August read: “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, who won the Golden Glove at the World Cup and was named FIFA Best goalkeeper, keeps expressing her thanks to her fans on social media and wants to ensure that everybody who wants a shirt will be able to get one, hopefully just in time for Christmas.