The mystery of Cata Coll's official t-shirt
The FC Barcelona goalkeepers' kits cannot be bought in the club's official stores
BarcelonaIf a fan wants to buy the official jersey of the Barça women's goalkeeper, Cata Coll, they won't find it. It doesn't exist in the club shop or on the club's website. Barça, a world leader in women's football, fills stadiums and wins titles, but doesn't sell its goalkeeper's jersey. Even the club's own shop employees are surprised: "We don't have it, I'd never thought about it before."
Unofficial Barça sources tell ARA that the decision depends on Nike and that the brand considers there isn't enough demand to produce a specific version with the Bimbo logo, the women's sponsor. The same sources point to an alternative: buying the goalkeeper's jersey from the men's first team, available only in men's sizes, and having it printed with Coll's name and number (or that of the Font sisters, substitutes today in the Blaugrana squad) as if it were for any individual. Official club sources assure they have "nothing more to say" on the matter.
From the environment of the Mallorcan goalkeeper, perplexity is perceived, now accumulated over the years. Her representative, Carlota Planas, admits to this newspaper that the situation "is not at all funny" and assumes that it doesn't look like things are going to change soon.
For its part, Nike remains silent in the face of this newspaper's inquiries. Its business logic is based on demand forecasting, but the model has a limitation: if a product is not offered, demand cannot be measured. The case of Mary Earps during the 2023 World Cup is an example. The English goalkeeper was one of the standout figures of the tournament, but her jersey could not be bought. The footballer denounced it on several occasions, but the protest grew thanks to Emmy Louisa, a fan who, at 16 years old, launched a campaign on Change.org demanding that jerseys of her favorite footballer be made. The initiative went viral and forced the change. Nike put the item on sale and it sold out in hours, demonstrating that the interest existed but had been ignored.
When Nike put the jerseys on sale, Emmy found out while she was at school, with no prior notice for her or Earps. And of that historic batch of jerseys that she herself had managed to get, she says she missed out. That episode showed two things: that demand does exist and that, often, the problem is perhaps more a lack of will than market logic. The comparison with other European clubs reinforces this idea. Chelsea, also sponsored by Nike, sells its goalkeeper Hannah Hampton's jersey for the Women's Super League, albeit only in men's sizing. Paris Saint-Germain women's team offers goalkeeper jerseys in the "Stadium version in women's sizing. One of their goalkeepers is precisely Earps.
Nike also allows the purchase of the English women's national team goalkeeper jersey in women's sizing, an option that today continues to be unavailable for the Spanish national team and, therefore, another lost opportunity to acquire an official jersey of Cata Coll.
The Madrid jersey can be purchased
Adidas is one step ahead with the teams it sponsors. In fact, fans of Olympique Lyonnais, Barça's rival in the women's Champions League final on May 23, are in luck. The team does make goalkeeper jerseys with women's sizing and official patches available to fans. Arsenal Women allows the purchase of the goalkeeper jersey and its personalization with elements from women's competitions, although only in men's sizing, as they share a sponsor and therefore use the same patches. Even Real Madrid Women, with a limited structural and economic commitment to women's football, sells the jersey of their goalkeeper, Misa Rodríguez, although only in men's sizing.
Lacking a definitive move from Nike, there are solutions that initially don't seem particularly complex for Cata Coll's case. The first would be for Barça to pressure the Portland company to launch a specific capsule with the Mallorcan player's jersey, even assuming part of the economic investment. The second, even simpler, would be to enable the possibility on the official website to personalize the men's goalkeeper jersey with the names of the first-team goalkeepers and with the official patches of women's competitions. It might not completely solve the problem, but it would avoid a difficult-to-explain contradiction: that in the club leading European and world women's football it is impossible to buy the official jersey of its goalkeeper.