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Mary Earps shirt petition organiser, 16, 'amazed' by response

Family photo Mary Earps (left) and Emmy (right)Family photo
Football fan Emmy once got to meet her idol Mary Earps and has found the Lionesses' success inspirational

A young football fan said the response to her petition calling on Nike to sell a replica England women's goalkeeper shirt had been "amazing".

More than 135,000 people have so far signed the petition started by Emmy, 16, from Northamptonshire.

Before the World Cup, Lionesses star Mary Earps said she found it "hurtful" that fans could only buy outfield players' shirts and not hers.

Nike said it was "working towards solutions for future tournaments".

England were beaten 1-0 by Spain in Sunday's World Cup final, but Earps saved a penalty and it was the team's best-ever result at the competition.

Earps' feats at the tournament earned her the Golden Glove award.

'Need an apology'

Emmy's petition was started on 21 July and the number of signatures has doubled since the Lionesses finished runners-up.

Speaking to BBC Look East, Emmy said she hoped Earps "could see our support".

"After the loss, I think everyone is joining together and showing support when they need it the most. All of them [England players] are such inspiring individuals," she said.

"I think we all need an apology because we weren't able to represent Mary this World Cup."

Tom Williams/BBC EmmyTom Williams/BBC
The petition, which was started by Emmy in July, has doubled in signatures since Sunday's final

Emmy, herself a football player, said: "I don't play in goal but Mary has inspired me to be who I want to be."

Nike said it was committed to women's football and was excited by the passion around the 2023 tournament.

It said: "We hear and understand the desire for a retail version of a goalkeeper jersey and we are working towards solutions for future tournaments, in partnership with Fifa and the federations.

"The fact that there's a conversation on this topic is testament to the continued passion and energy around the women's game and we believe that's encouraging."

Reuters Mary Earps and Golden Glove awardReuters
Mary Earps was named best goalkeeper of the World Cup

The FA's chief executive Mark Bullingham said it was an issue that would be "addressed quite soon after the tournament".

"Mary spoke passionately about it and we want to grow goalkeeping - it's building role models," he said.

Earlier this week, an Oxford-based company designed its own version of the goalkeeper top.

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