The gloves are off: Mary Earps hits out at England coach and fellow goalie

Her new autobiography, All In, serialised in the Guardian, criticises the England manager, Sarina Wiegman, and reveals her fury at being replaced as goalkeeper by Hannah Hampton, someone she regarded as a disruptive influence on the squad that famously won the 2022 European Championships.

The comments are a marked change from the usual tone around the women’s game – which has more commonly been celebrated for its positive atmosphere when compared with the toxicity associated with men’s football.

Earps’ book lifts the lid, for the first time, on the serious disagreements that exist within the sport, and even between teammates, which are more often overlooked in favour of promoting women’s football as being uniquely pleasant.

Earps, who received an MBE in 2024, is no stranger to controversy. She is known variously as “Sweary Mary” (following an outburst against a Spanish opponent after saving a penalty in the 2023 World Cup final) and “Mary Queen of Stops”, for the skills that twice won her awards as the best goalkeeper in the world.

She was also voted the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 2023 after she had helped England win their first major football championship since the men triumphed in 1966. She singlehandedly forced Nike to introduce a replica goalkeeper kit for women and girls after that success.

But in her book, she claims that Hampton, 24, had “risked derailing” England training sessions during that tournament and that she decided to retire only days before this summer’s championships, which the Lionesses also won, after Wiegman made it clear she would no longer be first choice goalkeeper.

Earps says she had told Wiegman “bad behaviour is being rewarded” after Hampton was selected in April 2024 and said it would not align with her “morals and values” to continue playing for England.

The Guardian reported in October 2022 that Hampton had been dropped from the England squad for attitude issues. Hampton has spoken in the past about how tough she has found the attention that came from that story, claiming that people in the street had shouted abuse at her as a result.

Since then, she has won several trophies with Chelsea (and played in their 2-0 win yesterday) and was outstanding for the Lionesses during the Euros this summer. Away from the pitch, Hampton has drawn praise for her advocacy, being presented with a special recognition award from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Hampton had to have several operations on her eyes when she was younger, and was told she would never be able to play professional sport.

On Friday night, as details of Earps’s book began to emerge, Hampton was named woman of the year by Glamour magazine and afterwards posted on Instagram: “Sisterhood is not just a word. It’s a movement. It’s the quiet strength we lend each other, the encouragement whispered when doubt creeps in, the celebration of one woman’s success as a victory for us all. When one woman rises, she lifts others – and that’s the true meaning of empowerment.”

Hampton’s performances over the last year had led to her being given the inaugural women’s Yashin Trophy, with the award being presented by none other than Earps at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.

Earps, 32, moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Manchester United last summer.

Asked if she had spoken to Hampton, Earps told the Guardian “There was a lot of conversation and a lot of effort to try and change the situation… I took my role as a leader very seriously.”

She declined to elaborate on what she saw as Hampton’s disruptive behaviour and said she had messaged her to say: “Look, no bad blood.”

She also revealed in her book that she is in a same-sex relationship. In a statement given to the BBC, she said “it would have felt inauthentic not to include something so important to me in this book.”

Photograph by Lynne Cameron – The FA via Getty Images