Mary Earps felt ‘bad behaviour is being rewarded’ with Hannah Hampton recall

Mary Earps has claimed she told Sarina Wiegman that “bad behaviour is being rewarded” following the England manager’s decision to recall Hannah Hampton.

Goalkeeper Earps played a key role in the Lionesses’ European Championships triumph in 2022 and starred as they reached the final of the World Cup the following year.

However, after Hampton was left out of a number of squads – with Earps writing in her new autobiography, All In, which is being serialised by the Guardian, that the Chelsea goalkeeper’s “behaviour behind the scenes at the Euros (in 2022) had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources” – Hampton usurped Earps as England number one at the start of this year.

When Hampton’s return to the Lionesses’ set-up was first mooted by Wiegman at the beginning of 2023, Paris St Germain goalkeeper Earps said she told the England manager: “‘It doesn’t make me feel comfortable,’ not needing to remind her of the disharmony that the squad had felt before.

“I felt protective of the good energy we now had in goalkeeper training and the morale of the wider team.

“To reward certain behaviour went against those same fundamental values of creating a healthy and happy space for players of all experience to work and thrive, not least in a team environment before a World Cup.”

The following year, Hampton was named ahead of Earps for a European Championships qualifier.

Earps said she told Wiegman: “‘I don’t get it… It’s a qualifier match. And bad behaviour is being rewarded.’

“This felt unjust. 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.”

Wiegman then informed Earps ahead of this summer’s Euros that Hampton, 24, would be her number one.

Earps continued: “I felt the weight of my heart sink to the floor and the relief that I had finally had clarity lift from my shoulders all at once.”

Earps, 32, announced her shock international retirement prior to the Euros with Hampton saving two spot-kicks in the penalty shoot-out of England’s final win against Spain as the Lionesses defended their title.

In an interview with the Guardian, Earps said of Hampton: “I think we had different ideas of what being a team-mate should be. I think there was a mismatch, a misalignment, of values.

“I don’t want to go into the specifics because it’s not my place. She is a very good goalkeeper and I’ve tried to draw a line under all that. I have messaged her privately to say: ‘Look, no bad blood.’”