It became an iconic piece of clothing during the Matildas‘ breathtaking 2023 World Cup campaign — and fans are about to get a chance to make it their own.
At 12pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, the purple Nike jersey worn by Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold throughout Australia’s home World Cup campaign will go on sale, Football Australia has announced.
Some six months ago, the fact the jersey was not for sale caused uproar, when fans desperate to deck themselves out in Matildas kit realised there was no way to buy any of Arnold’s No.18 shirts.
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The reason for that was Nike and Adidas, the two biggest kit manufacturers in women’s football, had chosen to not make any of the teams’ goalkeeper jerseys available to buy.
Arnold praised the support of fans over the whirlwind past 12 months.
”The support we as goalkeepers have felt from our fans over the last year has been absolutely incredible,” Arnold said.
“It means so much to me that we’ll head into another huge year for our team, and our sport, knowing that our families, friends and fans will be backing us all the way, and wearing our jerseys with pride.”
Just over 24 hours after Arnold’s jersey goes on sale, fans could be wearing the eye-catching purple shirt in the stands at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, where the Matildas till take on Uzbekistan in their final Paris 2024 qualifying leg.
The Matildas all but secured their ticket to the Olympics by defeating Uzbekistan 3-0 in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, on Saturday night (AEDT).
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson is thrilled that Arnold’s purple jersey is about to hit the shelves.
“We are delighted to work with our long-term apparel partner, Nike, in making available for fans the now iconic purple CommBank Matildas goalkeeper jersey as worn by our goalkeeping cohort during last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup and during the current Olympic qualifying campaign,” Johnson said.
“For many years now, our national team goalkeepers have become national heroes and household names, so we are thrilled that through the support of Nike, fans can now access the CommBank Matildas goalkeeper jersey, and we can’t wait to see that support in the streets and stands during another big year for our women’s national teams.”