Former England star Mary Earps has taken aim at her replacement Hannah Hampton, revealing she told Sarina Wiegman she was rewarding ‘bad behaviour’ by recalling her rival to the Lionesses squad.
Earps announced her shock retirement from international duty just weeks before last summer’s European Championships. Hampton was installed as the new no1 goalkeeper by Wiegman as England won the competition for the second time in a row, beating Spain on penalties with Hampton saving two spot kicks.
Earps had been England’s goalkeeper for their previous triumph at the 2022 Euros, where Hampton was an unused substitute.
In her new autobiography ‘All In’, Earps has lifted the lid of Hampton’s behaviour which she claims the latter ‘frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources’.
Shortly after that Euros success in October 2022, Hampton was dropped from the England squad. Wiegman at the time refused to disclose the details behind the decision but reports claimed a poor attitude led to her being left out.
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‘It affected us all in a domino effect to an extent that was extremely unusual in a successful elite team environment,’ Earps commented in her book, being serialised by The Guardian.
Hampton was recalled to the squad in 2023, setting her on the path to becoming England’s new no1 last summer in a decision Earps questioned.
When Hampton started in a qualifying match against Republic of Ireland in 2024, Earps took her concerns directly to Wiegman, telling the manager: ‘I don’t get it. It’s a qualifier match. And bad behaviour is being rewarded.’
As Hampton began to get more opportunities, Earps felt her relationship with Wiegman was breaking down.
‘This felt unjust. My eyes welled with tears,’ she wrote.
‘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.’
Wiegman’s decision to name Hampton as her first-choice goalkeeper in April 2025 prompted Earps to announce her retirement, accusing her manager of lacking honesty over the situation.
Earps wrote she was left ‘extremely disappointed’ by the decision, telling Wiegman that she ‘could have been more direct and honest’.
Wiegman responded by telling Earps she had only come to the decision recently, insisting she had communicated openly.
‘That sounded like bulls*** to me,’ Earps wrote.
