In a win that goes far beyond the 2023 Women's World Cup, Nike has finally agreed to sell Mary Earps' Lionesses shirt and a few other selectedwomen's goalkeeper kits following massive backlash all across the sport.
The Lionesses and Manchester United Women's keeper has been leading the charge in demanding Nike reverse their decision not to sell female goalkeeper kits for this year's tournament and after weeks of uproar from the general public, the sports brand has finally buckled.
Following Earps' iconic penalty save moment in the World Cup final against Spain, the public outcry for the company to produce replicas of her England shirt grew even louder, with more than 150,000 people signing a petition to sell the kit.
As a result, the petition was officially submitted to UK Parliament and Nike has now confirmed they will finally manufacture and sell Mary Earps' Lionesses shirts. Hallelujah!
Issuing a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday night, 23 August, a spokesperson said: "Nike has secured limited quantities of goalkeeper jerseys for England, U.S., France and the Netherlands to be sold through the federation websites over the coming days, and we are also in conversations with our other federation partners".
As per The Manc, they went on to assure, "We've seen and share the unprecedented passion and interest in women’s football this year and remain committed to playing our part by offering the best products and services to athletes and fans.
"We invested more in this year’s WCthan any other global tournament to date... We recognize that during the tournament we didn’t serve those fans who wished to show their passion and support to the squad's goalkeepers. We are committed to retailing women’s goalkeeping jerseys for major tournaments in the future."
While the female keeper kits will only be available in "limited qualities" for the four nations, the U-turn is a watermark moment in the women's and serves as a brilliant moment in which the general public notched a huge win against a global corporation.
Speaking when the controversy first came into the public eye, the 30-year-old England women's keeper said, "I can’t really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try. It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful... What you’re saying is that goalkeeping isn’t important but you can be a striker if you want."
The support from her teammates, across the nation and throughout football in general has been nothing short of incredible and after she once again called out the giant sporting fashion franchise for what many labelled a bit of non-statement, it's clear that the fan pressure and public sentiment won out in the end.
A truly massive and well-deserved moment for Mary Earps and all her fellow women goalkeepers.
We knew she was going to win this one the second she saved that pen.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Danny Jones -
24th August 2023 
