Sports clothing giant Nike has pledged to manufacture goalkeeper shirts going forward, after revealing the incredible uptick in the popularity of Australia’s women’s national team.
Nike and Football Australia on Friday announced a 10-year extension of their deal, which stretches the association between the pair to three decades.
Nike’s pacific vice president and general manager, Ashley Reade, lifted the lid on how much fandom in the Matildas has grown since their FIFA World Cup heroics in August.
READ MORE: Australia survives in thriller to seal World Cup final spot
READ MORE: Skipper in shock as South Africa’s curse continues
READ MORE: ‘Looking like a clown’: F1 champ rips Vegas circus
Australia fell one game shy of the tournament decider on home soil, but won the hearts and minds of the country in the process.
“(The women’s World Cup) was just unprecedented demand,” Reade told Wide World of Sports on Friday.
“Jersey sales were 19 times what they were four years ago in Paris, so it was incredible.
“We’re seeing a lot of personalisation and customisation of players. The player range is broad, and I think that’s what ’23 gave us.
“If you look through that period there were a number of heroes that stood up, so I think this tournament gave the Australian public the ability to identify.”
One of the biggest heroes in Australia’s incredible World Cup run was goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
The shot-stopper stood tall in a crunch clash against France, saving three shots in an epic penalty shootout which propelled the Aussies to a semi-final.
But tensions rose following that game, when it became clear fans could not purchase Arnold’s replica jersey, despite being able to buy all her teammates’.
Nike eventually conceded the oversight and did manufacture goalkeeper jerseys for four nations – with England star Mary Earps’ selling out within hours.
Now, Reade says the company won’t be making that mistake again.
“You’ve got someone like a Mackenzie Arnold, who is a great Nike athlete and we love her dearly, and what she was able to achieve under extreme pressure,” he said.
“I think Australians love to see how people recover from adversity, or deal with adversity, and she was a great champion of that.
“We did under-serve, from a goalkeeper point of view. You saw the reaction of fans who were so passionate about that, and passionate about Mackenzie and the goalkeeper jersey, that yes we are certainly looking at that in future collections, how do we build that in for the next major tournaments.”
Football Australia chief James Johnson was rapt to hear the increase in jersey sales around Australia, for both the women’s and men’s national teams.
“We’re very excited about the numbers of shirt sales that we’re seeing,” Johnson told Wide World of Sports.
“One of (the reasons) is the Women’s World Cup, but it’s also the investment that was put into the Matildas four years ago.
“Our vision four years ago (to) have two of the strongest national team brands in the country. The Socceroos are a historically strong brand, but there has been a strategic focus in really building the Matildas brand.
“So to see it doing so well today gives us great confidence going forward.”