After Pressure From Fans and Players, Nike Will Sell Limited Goalkeeper Jerseys

English goalkeeper Mary Earps came up big this Women’s World Cup: Although the Lionesses lost in the World Cup Final, Earps ended with 16 saves, three clean sheets, and the FIFA Golden Glove award for best keeper at the World Cup.

But even as she gained popularity and fame around the world, it was impossible to buy her jersey — not because of the usual supply and demand problems, but because Nike, who made the Lionesses’ kits, did not sell her jersey.

“I can’t really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try. It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful,” Earps told reporters last month. Earps said that she had been “fighting behind closed doors” with the English FA and Nike to find a solution. “For my own family and friends and loved ones not to be able to buy my shirt … on a personal level that is really hard,” she added.

Now, however, Nike seems to have given in to the pressure, telling The New York Times that it intends to sell limited keeper kits.

“Nike has secured limited quantities of goalkeeper jerseys for England, U.S., 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,” a Nike spokeswoman told The New York Times in an emailed statement.

Based on starting lineups in the World Cup, these jerseys will include Earps, USWNT’s Alyssa Naeher, France’s Pauline Peyraud Magnin and the Netherlands’ Daphne van Domselaar.

Demand for Earps’s jersey rose sharply as England progressed through the tournament, as did calls for Nike to sell it. Knockoffs cropped up around England and a change.org petition racked up more than 150,000 signatures since its creation on July 21.

A video of a reporter (unknowingly) speaking to Mary Earps’s parents ahead of the World Cup Final went viral; in the video, Earps’s parents reveal that they are wearing their daughter's game-worn kits after the reporter notes that keeper jerseys are nearly impossible to get.

Nike outfitted 13 of the 32 teams at this year’s World Cup, while Adidas made uniforms for 10 teams and Puma for two. None of these three companies made goalkeeper jerseys available, but Hummel, who outfitted Denmark’s national team, and Castore, who made kits for Ireland, did make replica keeper kits. Per The New York Times, goalie jerseys were available for four Nike-sponsored men’s teams in last year’s World Cup.

Nike released a statement after the World Cup Final, saying that it was working towards “solutions for future tournaments,” adding: “The fact that there’s a conversation on this topic is a testament to the continued passion and energy around the women’s game, and we believe that’s encouraging.”

Earps responded on Instagram, posting the statement and adding, “Is this your version of an apology/taking accountability/a powerful statement of intent?”

Additionally, British MP and former sports minister Tracey Crouch submitted a motion to Parliament calling for Nike to release an Earps kit. British Parliament has recently pushed companies to make parity efforts, including for women’s soccer cleats, through Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee.

“Billie Jean King famously once said ‘you have to see it to be it,’” Crouch wrote in an op-ed in The Independent that was published Wednesday. “Now I see Alessia (Russo), Bethany (England), Chloe (Kelly) and of course Mary. We all see it. And we want to buy it.”