Mary Earps pauses for thought, takes a breath, and she’s off: “I can’t really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try. It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful.”
For months the Best Fifa Women’s Goalkeeper of 2022 and European champion has fielded questions about how and when fans will be able to buy her England shirt. The answer? Despite all her efforts, including offering to pay for producing them, they can’t.
Earps, a passionate advocate for goalkeeping, improvements in coaching and increasing the popularity of the position, is devastated. At times as she speaks it looks as if tears are prickling the corners of her eyes.
“It is something I have been fighting behind closed doors,” she says. “I have been trying to go through the correct channels as much as possible, which is why I have not spoken on it publicly – even though I have been asked a lot about it over the past few months – because I have been desperately trying to find a solution with the FA and with Nike.
“Unfortunately, it has become very evident that is not possible and there is not going to be an acceptable solution for the young kids out there. On a personal level, it is hugely hurtful considering the last 12 months especially. There has been an incredible rise in goalkeeping participation.”
Earps was not told her kit would not be available to the public. She found out when the outfield kit went on sale and none of the promotional pictures of the goalkeepers was used as a part of the campaign.
“I raised this last year [around the Euros, when her shirt also wasn’t available] and it was: ‘Don’t worry, next year. It was Covid, manufacturing issues,’” she says. “Then this year it has happened again”
A logistical failure also meant she was not asked whether she wanted long or short sleeves for her World Cup shirts. There was an assumption that in Australia she would want short sleeves – except she has never worn them. The confusion meant she was forced to wear short sleeves in the Finalissima and put on a long-sleeved base layer. “I was never asked,” she says.
A solution has been found for the World Cup, but her family and friends who are travelling are unable to buy her shirt. “They are going to come out and wear normal clothes and I know that sounds like: ‘Oh Mary, what a horrible problem’ but on a personal level that is really hard.
“All my teammates have ordered a lot of shirts for their friends and family. They are talking about it at the dinner table: ‘Oh I wasn’t able to get this.’ And I’m thinking: ‘ I can’t get it at all.’ There are a lot of people who have spent a tremendous amount of money on outfield shirts and then put a number one and Earps on the back, which doesn’t sit well with me either.
“Millie [Bright] spoke to me [a while ago] and said: ‘My niece is desperate to get your shirt, where can I get it?’ I was like: ‘You can’t, it doesn’t exist.’ That is a huge problem and it is a scary message that is being sent to goalkeepers worldwide, that you are not important.”
The support of her teammates has been invaluable. “As a whole goalkeeper union, we are all tremendously disappointed,” she says. “But also, most importantly, the rest of the girls are really disappointed too.
“I say that with a wry smile because I wasn’t expecting it. I was expecting to feel super passionate about it, but I temperature-checked it at the time with Leah [Wiliamson], Lotte [Wubben-Moy] and a few others and said: ‘Am I overreacting girls? Goalkeeper through and through.’ And they were like: ‘No, it is absolutely unacceptable. We as a group stand for inclusion and this is the total opposite of what we stand for. Why are we aligning with brands that don’t have inclusion at the centre. Why is it always about the bottom line?’”
Nike has been approached for comment. It is understood that producing the new women’s goalkeeper kits for the public is not part of its commercial strategy.
“My shirt on the Manchester United website was sold out last season,” Earps says. “It was the third-best-selling shirt, so who says it is not selling? It is the young kids I am most concerned about. They are going to say: ‘Mum, dad, can I have a Mary Earps shirt?’ and they have to say: ‘You can’t but I can get you an Alessia Russo 23 or a Rachel Daly 9.’ So, what you are saying is that goalkeeping isn’t important, but you can be a striker if you want.
“That is why the participation rate is so much lower. It is a very hard position to play but it is not facilitated and it is a massive way of excluding a huge part of the demographic. That is why I am so passionate and desperate to change that. Big businesses don’t do enough.”
Earps has fought behind the scenes to to find a solution. “It is something I have been really, really fighting quietly and probably a lesson I have learned is that I should have made a public statement sooner.
“I have gone through every imaginable step I possibly could in this short space of time. Maybe if it was proactively brought to my attention six months ago could we have come up with a solution, I don’t know. I offered to buy the shirts myself, I went to the FA to see if we could make something and to be fair my understanding is the FA tried, they put a bit of the technical budget to one side to [try to find a solution].”
It is also understood that the men’s goalkeeper shirts are produced in limited numbers. None appear to be available on Nike’s website. “If that was the conversation we are having, that not enough are being produced, that is one conversation,” says Earps. “But for it to not be available at all is a totally different thing.”
Despite Earps’s efforts, including launching her own small T-shirt brand, she still feels lshe has let people down. “There should really be a public acknowledgment. I get comments all the time on social media: ‘Mary, where are the shirts?’ and I have been really trying. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it happen. I feel really bad that I feel a massive portion of the fans have been truly let down by this.”
Earps is hopeful that “after the World Cup we can pick up those conversations” and knows success on the pitch will help strengthen her hand. “Our voice can be more valuable,” she says. “That adds pressure on the team and myself. That is something I have to deal with as a player at the top. I am going to strive to perform to my absolute best level so I can look back on these conversations and be in a strong position.”
But she feels it should not work like that. “Are we just going to talk about these things if you are successful? That is a damaging message. We shouldn’t be asking for the bare minimum at this point, these things should be non-negotiable regardless of success.”
