Winner of the 22-23 WSL Golden Glove Award, FIFA 2022 Best
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Goalie Nominations.
Manchester United Football Club
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Goalkeeper Mary Earps is one of today's
women's soccer
One of the best goalkeepers in the game, and vice-captain and first-goal of this England representative team, yet fans can't buy her World Cup jersey.
This was first discovered when Millie Brighton, the England captain, wanted to buy a wicketkeeper's jersey for her niece, and it was only when she enquired at Earps that the pair discovered that Nike didn't sell them.
women's soccer
the national team
Goalkeeper's jersey. For this reason, Earps said she has been inquiring with Nike and the Football Association (FA) and has tried to resolve the issue privately, but Nike has no intention of producing the merchandise because of commercial considerations.
The Athletic contributor who broke the story, former Crystal Palace
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Goalie Chole Morgan wrote another retrospective on the incident afterward. In it, he said, "I interviewed another goalie (who wishes to remain anonymous) about this and she said, 'Mary tried to talk to Nike and they just don't get it. Nike can't make any money off of goalie jerseys, but if you don't try to see it, how do you know? And Nike didn't even sell the jerseys.
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The jersey of the goalkeeper of any team in the World Cup."
Mary Earps had to make her own commemorative T and sell it in the official England team store
Earps' fight has yet to yield results, and Nike has yet to issue a public response to the issue. She has negotiated with the FA to have a personalized t-shirt made at her own expense, which will be available in the official England store for friends, family and fans to buy.
Chole Morgan writes that Earps, who turns 30 this year, has reached many accomplishments and is not only the best active
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wicketkeeper and one of the key leaders of the England team.Earps and England
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's captain Leah Williamson (who did not make the World Cup due to an ACL injury)
the national team
), acting captain Millie Brighton, who only a few moments ago made a statement on male
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Negotiations with the FA over the distribution of prize money have begun, and now the choice to barge Nike, the world's biggest sports brand, ahead of England's first group game over the jersey is as clever as it is bold.
borrow
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In addition to the World Cup attention, the Earps' fight is not just about gender issues, but also about the goalie position. Because goalies receive the least amount of coaching time compared to other positions in the professional hierarchy, the position struggles to get the attention of coaches and jerseys and equipment, and is always the last to be considered.
More radical viewpoints, such as Goalkeeper.com, which focuses on goalie news, have even pointed out that Nike's disdain for goalie gear could cause them to lose important brand ambassadors. For example
Manchester City football club
Ederson and the current England
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A goalkeeper, Pickford, has switched to Puma in recent seasons; and of the current luxury goalkeepers who still have endorsement deals, the
Real Madrid soccer team
Courtois and
Liverpool (England)
's Alisson, on the other hand, was seen shunning Nike (using other brands of gloves, blacking out logos or covering them with tape during training).
The Courtois and Alisson rumors may be a bit skeptical, but Goalkeeper.com and Chole Morgan's report at The Athlete make it clear that many players and pundits privately believe that Nike is strategically neglecting goalie gear for commercial reasons, and that while Nike is still putting out new gloves, the brand has been seen less and less in Europe's top five leagues. Although Nike still produces new gloves, it is becoming increasingly rare to see goalkeepers wearing the brand's equipment in Europe's top five leagues.
Mary Earps herself said of the incident, "This (Nike not releasing the jerseys) sends a terrible message that goalies don't matter." In contrast to Nike's cold shoulder, the Adidas-contracted
Manchester United Football Club
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On the other hand, after the revelation of the incident, a special tweet was published on July 23, showing Earps'
Manchester United Football Club
The jersey supports her jersey fight (congrats to Adidas for an extra point opportunity).
ahead
Manchester United Football Club
Goalie Ben Foster has talked in one of the episodes of his personal podcast about why the goalie position is less likely to change hands frequently or
transfer to another club (professional sports)
The reason for this is that, in general, when building a team's lineup, the head coach always wants to settle down the goalie position before considering other positions and tactical design, which shows the importance of the goalie on the field.
However, off the pitch goalkeepers are rarely used to headline advertisements and receive media attention often because of serious mistakes, and the
transfer to another club (professional sports)
Fees and salaries are also always lower than those of the outfield positions that make the most noise on the field. These phenomena may be why the Earps are speaking out: goalies are the last ones to be considered on many levels, and that doesn't match up with their dedication to a team.
References:
The Athletic, Goalkeeper.com, Sky Sports, HK01 Sports
