Ex-Lioness Siobhan Chamberlain slams England goalkeeper kit decision

Former England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain has spoken out about Nike’s decision not to produce a replica Lionesses keeper’s shirt ahead of the Women’s World Cup.

In an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes, Chamberlain – now a sports pundit – also gives her view on current keeper Mary Earps ahead of England v Nigeria on Monday.

Not selling England shirts is basically telling kids it’s not OK to be different

I think it’s a miss [that the goalkeeper’s shirt isn’t available]. I’ve got two little girls myself, and if I was still playing, I’d 100% want them to be wearing my shirt.

It’s a visibility thing, as well; there’s always been an issue where there just haven’t been enough goalkeepers in the women’s game. Are there enough goalkeepers at the top level? Are they good enough?

But if you’re telling kids from a young age that they can’t wear goalkeeper shirts, you’re potentially missing out on so many young girls growing up wanting to play in goal. They’re not going out there with goalie shirts on, diving around saying “I’m the keeper!” and enjoying themselves. By not offering that opportunity, you’re kind of saying “no, that’s not an option for you as a kid; you’re just going to be an Alessia Russo, or a Georgia Stanway… you can’t be a Mary Earps.”

That’s a restriction you don’t need, on a position which is already lacking in numbers. We need to encourage young kids to want to play in goal.

But, also, sometimes kids just want to be different. Goalkeeper shirts are fun; they’re different. Not selling them is basically saying ‘it’s not OK to be different’. I don’t want that; I want young kids to feel like it’s completely fine to want to be different, and not wear the same football shirts as everyone else.

There are a few different dynamics to the whole situation. It’s a shame, and hopefully it’s addressed in the near future.

I see loads of kids wearing goalkeeper kits from Premier League clubs, WSL clubs as well… not necessarily because they want to be goalkeepers to begin with, but because the shirts are bright and fun. If kids had the opportunity to put that Mary Earps shirt on, that could be where their goalkeeping journey begins.

It does take so long for these kind of things in production, I know that everything is two years ahead of schedule, and things like that. Maybe they’ve just been caught out a little by the growth of the women’s game in the last few years. I’m not sticking up for them at all, because I think it’s a real miss… I’m just trying to think of logical reasons as to why they may not.

Importance of Mary Earps

Mary [Earps] has already made a couple of key saves to get those early wins over the line against Haiti and Denmark, and she’s going to play a huge role if England are going to go far in this tournament. She’ll have been incredibly frustrated with the penalty against China because it’s another clean sheet she’s missed out on – especially with the penalty going straight down the middle; she’ll have been so frustrated with that.

We talk about the importance of your core players through the centre of the pitch, and the absence of Keira Walsh puts more emphasis on the importance of the rest of that core. So, Mary in goal and Millie Bright in defence… they’re going to be key over the next few days. It looks like Millie Bright is finding form again and she had a great game as part of that back three against China; she’s going to be vital in front of Mary moving forward. Those two, Mary and Millie, their voices, and their experience… I can’t stress how important they are to the spine of this England team.

If England are going to go far, Mary’s going to have to keep stepping things up a level, as she has been.