Oxford company releases Mary Earps football shirt

A record label has created an unofficial Mary Earps goalkeeper shirt after Nike received public criticism for not selling it.

Oxford-based company Alcopop designed its own version of the England Lioness' top following her performance in the Women's World Cup 2023.

Mary Earps said that Nike's decision not to sell her kit was "hurtful".

Nike said it understood the desire for the top and was "working towards solutions for future tournaments".

Jack Clothier, who runs Alcopop, said he assumed it was a "ridiculous oversight" that the Women's England goalkeeper kit had not been available to buy.

"But they continued to not make the shirt, despite the fact that she was, in my opinion, the player of the tournament," he said.

"So we said, if you don't make it, we will."

Profits from the shirt will be donated to Football Without Borders, a charity that uses sport to encourage social change in disadvantaged communities.

Mary Earps was awarded Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper for 2022 and won the Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper of the 2023 Women's World Cup.

But Nike do not sell goalkeeper replica kits for the England women's team.

A petition to the company to change this was started by fans on 21 July and has amassed thousands of signatures.

Arsenal forward Beth Mead, who missed the tournament with a knee injury, praised Earps for speaking up about the situation.

"She's the best in the world right now, and she didn't have a shirt that young boys and girls could buy," she said.

"Are they saying that goalkeepers are not important? Because what Mary did within that tournament, and the last tournament, has been incredible."

The replica jersey, which Mr Clothier said was "100% unofficial", is pink with Earps' squad number 1 on the back.

He said: "My partner Rhi Lee is the designer who's put this together.

"She was designing the shirts during the first half of the match so they were ready to go."

Mr Clothier said the response to the shirt has been "so positive".

"We wanted to harness the nation's frustration and ask these big companies why they're refusing to do the obvious thing with one of the nation's genuine heroes."

The Football Association's CEO 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 added.

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."

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