Nike's replica jersey for England goalkeeper Mary Earps apparently sold out within hours of its release on Monday, after the company had faced widespread criticism for not previously selling the popular Women's World Cup finalist's shirt.
In an Instagram post, Earps said she had not been not aware the jerseys would be going on sale, but thanked followers for their "incredible support."
Earps also said the jerseys had sold out on the same day they were released. Nike would not comment on whether the jersey sold out, or how many it sold, but the shirts do not currently appear for sale on its website or through the England Football Association's website. In a statement, the company said that "more will be for sale later this season."
Earps was one of the standout stars of the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year, earning FIFA's Golden Glove award. She was voted England Women's Player of the Year
Nike previously faced backlash from fans and from Earps herself after replicas of the goalkeeper's jersey were not made available during the competition, which ended on 20 August with a Spain victory against England.
She said at the time: "For my own family, friends and loved ones not to be able to buy my shirt, they're just going to come out and wear normal clothes. All my team-mates, they’ve ordered a lot of shirts for their friends and family, they’re talking at the dinner table 'I wasn’t able to get this' and I’m saying 'I wasn’t able to get it at all'.
"I know there’s a lot of people who have spent a tremendous amount of money on outfield shirts and then put '1 Earps’ on the back, which doesn’t sit well with me either. It's a very scary message that’s being sent to goalkeepers worldwide that 'you’re not important'."
More than 170,000 people signed a Change.org petition calling on Nike to sell jerseys for Earps and other women goalkeepers.
The England men's goalkeeper jersey is available to buy on Nike’s website.
Nike announced on 24 August that it would make its women's teams goalkeeper kits available for fans, saying it had "secured limited quantities of goalkeeper jerseys for England, US, France and the Netherlands to be sold through the Federation websites over the coming days."
The company did not comment on why it chose to release Earps' jersey in October.
Nike produced 13 of the 32 team jerseys for the Women's World Cup. Its England kits became an added source of revenue after the US team, which it has sponsored since 1995, suffered their earliest exit ever in the tournament, creating a major loss in earnings potential.
