The mystery of Cata Coll's official jersey
The FC Barcelona goalkeepers' kits cannot be purchased 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 global benchmark in women's football, fills stadiums and racks up titles, but doesn't sell its goalkeeper's jersey. Even the club's own employees in the official stores are surprised: "We don't have it, I'd never really thought about it."
Barça sources tell ARA that the decision depends on Nike and that the brand believes there isn't enough demand to produce a specific version with the Bimbo logo, the sponsor of the women's team. The same sources suggest an alternative: buy the goalkeeper's jersey from the men's first team, available only in men's sizing, and have it stamped with Coll's name and number as if it were for any individual. Official club sources assure that they have "nothing further to say" on the matter.
From the team of the Mallorcan goalkeeper, you can percieve some perplexity, now accumulated over the years. Her representative, Carlota Planas, admits to this newspaper that the situation “is not ideal at all" and assumes that it doesn't look like things are going to change anytime soon.
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 complained about it on repeated 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 manufactured. 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, without prior notice to her or Earps. And from that historic batch of jerseys that she managed to have made she says she missed out on them. That episode proved 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 the jersey of their goalkeeper Hannah Hampton for the Women’s Super League, albeit only in men's sizing. Paris Saint-Germain's women's team offers goalkeeper jerseys in the Stadium version in women's sizing. Funnlily enough, one of their goalkeepers is Mary Earps.
Nike also allows the purchase of the English women's national team goalkeeper jersey with women's sizing, an option that today continues to not exist with the Spanish national team and, therefore, another lost opportunity to acquire an official jersey of Cata Coll.
The Madrid jersey can be bought
Adidas is one step ahead with the teams it sponsors. In fact, supporters of Olympique de Lyon, Barça's rival in the women's Champions League final on May 23, are in luck. The team does make goalkeeper jerseys available to fans with women's sizing and official patches. Arsenal Women allows you to purchase the goalkeeper jersey and personalize it 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 investment in women's football, sells the jersey of their goalkeeper, Misa Rodríguez, although only in men's sizing.
Lacking a definitive gesture from Nike, there are solutions that at first glance do not 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 financial 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's goalkeepers and with the official patches of women's competitions. It might not entirely solve the problem, but it would avoid a contradiction that is difficult to explain: that in the club that leads European and world women's football, it is impossible to buy the official jersey of its goalkeeper.