Mary Earps and England fans can rejoice as the Lionesses goalkeeper’s long-awaited replica shirts didn’t just drop this week, they sold out within mere hours of going online.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was another brilliant tournament for the Lionesses, making it to their first-ever World Cup final and nearly going all the way. The only dampener on spirits at times was the Nike controversy surrounding women’s goalkeeper kits.
With the sports brand announcing that they would not be manufacturing any replicas of female keeper kits, despite several teams donning Nike at the Women’s World Cup and all outfield shirts being made available, Earps led the charge for them to reverse the decision and provide full representation.
After weeks of public outcry and the tournament ultimately ending, the company finally backed down and confirmed that a limited amount of the Golden Glove winner’s shirts would be made available to buy. Well, they best get restocking because they’re already gone — all of them.
Mary Earps’ England shirts sold out on the same day her TikTok hit 1 million followers. (Credit: Mary Earps via IG)
To absolutely no one’s surprise whatsoever given the fact that half the country spent the tournament banging the drum for them, Mary Earps’ goalkeeper shirts have now completely sold out on the official England store.
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Issuing a statement via her Instagram story, the 30-year-old shot-stopper 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 in more sizes (kids and adults) — so stay tuned! Thank you for your incredible support on this, you guys have made this happen!”
The Man United‘s keeper’s club shirts were among the best-selling WSL shirts last season, so the demand was already there in spades, Nike just needed to pull their fingers out.
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All of this happened without any official announcement they had gone on sale and all in a matter of hours. If they need any reassurance as to why they should make more, that should be enough; as for what’s left, this is now the only Mary Earps shirt available online:
Here’s hoping other female goalkeepers get the recognition they are due by Nike.
With Earps having become not only the FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year last season but the Golden Glove Winner at the World Cup and the Lionesses Player of the Year, it’s safe to say she’s become a bit of an icon over the past 18 months or so.
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As for those of you who are looking to grab her kit, you’ll once again have to wait a while before you’re able to but at least they actually exist now.
Featured Image — Mary Earps (via Instagram)/England Store
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
10th October 2023 
