By Amelia Campbell
Lioness star goalkeeper, Mary Earps, recently revealed her disgust surrounding the mismanagement of “bad behaviour” within the England squad.
Only 5 weeks before this year’s European Championships, Earps was abruptly removed from the England first 11, losing her place to rival Hannah Hampton (Chelsea’s current superstar), leaving the public shocked and tentative over what the decision had entailed.
Earps had long been the top goalkeeper of the England Women’s team, proving to be a crucial member of the squad during their 3-year unstoppable road to success, together earning both European Championship victories and incredibly skilled performances in the 2023 world cup final.
Being named the “best goalkeeper of the world” twice and continually remaining a key face of the Lionesses, Earps’ decision to retire from international football was undoubtedly met with much surprise,causing eyebrows to raise amongst UK football fans, only to be answered in her recently written autobiography, “All In”.
In her autobiography, Earps reveals her disdain surrounding poor behaviour on Hampton’s part, stating that it “frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources” during their victorious Euro 2022 performance, a year where Hampton was later dropped from the team by head coach Sarina Wiegman for a poor attitude amongst the squad.
Whilst her book does not explicitly specify the exact details of Hampton’s actions and seemingly problematic manners, it entails her involvement in Hampton’s drafting back into the team, where Wiegman apparently chose to consult Earps over decisions to include Hampton in the England Women’s Football Team once again in 2023.
Wiegman’s argument that “everyone deserves a second chance” was met with unsurprising horror by the star goalkeeper, especially when Earps discovered Hampton would be starting for the Lionesses in one of the European Championship 2025 qualifier matches in 2024, claiming “Bad behaviour is being rewarded”, something Earps found inexcusable within sport, let alone a particularly powerful national team.
Months later during preparations for the Euro 2025 Championship, Hampton was named the starting goalkeeper rather than Earps, a selection which soon sparked the news of retirement from international football by the PSG sensation.
Though quite rare for a player to release an autobiography outlining disputes and altercations with another current player, even more rare when detailing a previous teammate, Earp’s book serves as a reminder of the tension that goes about unnoticed below the surface of international sport and how it can massively affect those within high performing teams.