Mary Earps hails 'incredible support' as Man Utd keeper's Lionesses shirt sells out after Nike criticism

Mary Earps’ Lionnesses No.1 shirt has reportedly sold out just hours after being finally put on sale by Nike. 

The sportswear giant was slammed by fans and Earps herself during the Women’s World Cup for not making the Manchester United keeper’s jersey available for supporters to buy. 

They eventually U-turned on their decision following an online petition, which garnered 170,000 signatures, with the shirts quietly going on sale on Monday, according to the Daily Mail. 

Pink, green and yellow versions were available but they sold out in a flash despite a shirt with ‘Earps 1’ on the back retailing at just shy of £100. 

They can now be found on auction sites for around double that price. More are likely to be available before the year is out but many fans were not happy about not being able to show their support for the England and United star. 

shelby elpers (@shelbbs247) said on X: “My dad wanted Mary Earps’s England kit for Christmas, and it doesn’t seem like that’s happening for him or many, many other people who wanted a shirt because Nike released them with zero promotion, only to sell out in minutes. It’s almost like there IS a demand for her shirt.”

SHE scores bangers (@SHEscoresbanger) said: “It’s ironic that Nike dropped Mary Earps’s England kit with no announcement after the World Cup “hype” at a very VERY high price thinking it’s past the demand, for it to sell out immediately. If that ain’t a statement, I don’t know what is.”

What has Mary Earps said? 

Reacting to news of the shirts selling out on her Instagram page, Earps said: "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 for kids and adults - so stay tuned. Thank you all for your incredible support on this. You guys have made this happen."

Ahead of the World Cup, it was Earps herself who had kicked off the debate about goalkeeper jerseys not being on sale. She said: “I can’t sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try - it is hugely disappointing and very hurtful. I’ve been desperately trying to find a solution with the Football Association and Nike. Unfortunately, it’s become very evident that it is not possible and there’s not going to be an acceptable solution for the young kids out there.”

Earps would go onto star in the tournament - saving a penalty in England’s agonising 1-0 final defeat against Spain before being given the Golden Glove award for the best ‘keeper at the tournament.

What have Nike said? 

After coming under fierce criticism for their decision, Nike initially said they would work “towards solutions for future tournaments” before issuing a further statement under mounting pressure.

“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,” it read. “We are committed to retailing women’s goalkeeping jerseys for major tournaments in the future.”

What have other people said?

Several high profile figures spoke out at the time of the controversy. 

BBC broadcaster Gabby Logan said: “She will have inspired so many little girls to go out and try and be a keeper in the back garden. Let’s hope that one day they can go and buy her shirts. That’s the next move.”

Earps' Lionesses team-mate Beth Mead, who missed the tournament through injury, said: "Like Mary said, are they saying that a goalkeeper's not important, because what Mary did within that tournament and the last tournament has been incredible. She's the best in the world, right now, and she doesn't have a jersey, she doesn't have a shirt that young boys and girls can buy. Does that mean a goalkeeper's not important? No. No1 to No23, the staff behind the scenes, everyone is important and that should be out there for Mary and I'm glad she spoke up about it."

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “Mary is incredibly passionate about growing goalkeeping, as we are. We’ve got several schemes to get the next generation of goalkeepers coming through. We have got a plan for addressing that issue.”