Copyright GIVEMESPORT
Mary Earps, formerly of Manchester United Women but now of Paris Saint-Germain Women, retired from international football in June with Euro 2025 around the corner. Hannah Hampton stepped up to the plate in Switzerland and operated inbetween the sticks for Sarina Wiegman – but Earps has now claimed that Wiegman was "rewarding the bad behaviour" of Hampton by recalling her to the squad. Earps' autobiography 'All In' is set to be released next week – but, ahead of it dropping in stores and online, it has been serialised in The Guardian. It's a story which details the 32-year-old's shock decision to hang up her gloves internationally before the showpiece in the summer just gone; tension behind the scenes and criticism of Wiegman and her communication. GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: On 17 September 2021, Earps was named as the starting goalkeeper in Sarina Wiegman's first game as England manager, her first Lionesses appearance since November 2019. Incredibly, Earps had become a popular figure among her teammates and the England faithful alike, which led her to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award following the Lionesses' run to the World Cup final in 2023. She's also been named the best goalkeeper in the world on two occasions, but her career has taken something of a nosedive in recent times. Earps Claims Hampton’s ‘Bad Behaviour Was Rewarded’ With Recall To the surprise of many, Earps finally faced some competition for her place in the England team from Hampton – who had long been the back-up stopper at Euro 2022 and the 2023 World Cup – during a series of European Championship qualifiers in 2024. Before that, Birmingham-born Hampton – who plies her trade for Chelsea Women – was left out of subsequent squads after the tournament in 2022 as reports claimed that she was 'disruptive' and 'unreliable'. Wiegman, the first manager in world football to reach five successive major international tournament finals, picked her again in early 2023 – and her performances eventually saw her become the go-to option between the sticks, thus leaving Earps in the England manager's peripheral vision. In fact, she claimed that Hampton's initial recall did not make her "feel comfortable" after the "disharmony the squad had felt before". In her upcoming autobiography, Earps describes being told that Hampton would be starting in a key qualifier against Ireland in April 2024. "I don't get it," she told Wiegman. "It's a qualifier match. And bad behaviour is being rewarded." Earps remained Wiegman's No. 1 choice for a while, but that began to change towards the end of 2024 when Hampton was given more opportunities. "This felt unjust," Earps claimed as she recalled the time when she was told that Hampton would be getting more minutes. "My eyes welled with tears. It was a choice that went against my core values. The affinity I had for Sarina and this job – one I'd given every last cell of myself to – was being destroyed, the trust and respect evaporating." In April 2025, Earps claimed Wiegman then told the PSG 'keeper that she was no longer her starter. "I felt the weight of my heart sink to the floor and the relief that I finally had clarity lift from my shoulders all at once," she wrote before claiming that she and Wiegman had a bit of a squabble as Earps felt disrespected by her poor communication regarding the matter. Fans, however, have not taken well to Earps' comments, as one wrote, "I have never been so disgusted," before another insisted that she had thrown her compatriot under the bus. "Good lord. Earps has chucked Hannah Hampton under the bus, then reversed back over her." "Some has spat their dummy out the pram, wowzers." "Blooming hell, Mary Earps is not going to come out well from this," one said as another added, "Oh Mary, this makes you sound bitter." Another simply put: "This is insane," as a final supporter concluded, "I feel sick to my stomach." Ahead of Euro 2025, a tournament Wiegman's side eventually won, Earps announced that she would be retiring from international football – and Hampton took the chance with both hands, cementing down the goalkeeping berth as her own for the foreseeable future. At the time of writing, she has represented her nation on 23 occasions. Elsewhere, Earps has 53 caps.
