Meet Hannah Hampton, the England goalkeeper following Mary Earps: ‘I have to live up to her legacy’ | OneFootball

Hannah Hampton puffs out her cheeks as she considers the magnitude of what came before. Mary Earps leaves big gloves to fill; the England goalkeeper who not just won the Euros and was twice named the best in the world, but who changed goalkeeping and inspired a generation. “I've got to just go and live up to her legacy,” Hampton says.

The Lionesses have a new No 1. Hampton will be England’s starting goalkeeper at Euro 2025, and would have been even if Earps had made Sarina Wiegman’s squad. Earps’ shock decision to retire before the tournament, though, will naturally increase the spotlight on Hampton when England play France in the opening match of their Euros defence. If there is always attention on the goalkeeper, with nowhere to hide, the noise around Earps’ retirement only adds to the scrutiny.

But Hampton also won her place. At 24, she is coming off a hugely successful club season with Chelsea where she played almost every minute of their unbeaten treble-winning domestic campaign. Upon arriving at Chelsea, Sonia Bompastor made Hampton her No 1, a decision also reached by Wiegman in April when she told her goalkeepers their roles for the Euros. It was only Earps’ decision to quit, at 32, that was the surprise, not the confirmation Hampton would be replacing her between the posts.

Hannah Hampton: ‘I think I can say that I’ve proved people wrong’ (Getty)

Rewind a few years, however, and even Hampton admits that this would have been an unexpected outcome. Hampton was part of England’s squad at the last Euros but was dropped by Wiegman after the tournament amid reports of her behaviour and attitude at camp. At 21, Hampton was left out by her club Aston Villa, too, while the negative headlines and stories circulating made her want to quit completely. She didn’t, and instead put her head down.

It wasn’t the first time Hampton had found motivation by proving people wrong, either. She was born with a squint, and as a child underwent several corrective procedures on her eyes. Doctors told her that she couldn’t play football and then said to her parents that she wouldn’t be able to become a professional. To this day, Hampton does not have depth perception, but has still made it to the highest level of the game and is England’s No 1. “I’m sat here right now,” Hampton says. “I think I can say that I’ve proved people wrong.”

Hampton is a modern goalkeeper, and both Wiegman and Bompastor have been impressed by her abilities on the ball in building from the back as well as her shot-stopping. An upbringing in Spain, where Hampton lived from the age of five until just before her 11th birthday, perhaps helped lay the foundations of a versatile game. She played as a striker at Villarreal’s academy, and remained an outfielder upon her family’s return to England.

Hampton had started a run of England games before Earps announced her retirement (Getty Images)

The choice to turn to goalkeeper, as it often is, was a random one, filling in at a time of need and discovering a natural talent. It would not be until Earps’ rise from self-doubting back-up to Lionesses star and England fan-favourite that goalkeeping became cool: at Lionesses games, it can often appear that there are as many children wearing England goalkeeper tops as the standard outfield home kit. Many of them, too, have Earps’ name on the back.

Even as Hampton now takes over, it is a lasting mark of what Earps achieved and there is gratitude for how she raised the bar for her profession. “I think there's been quite a bit of scrutiny that she probably doesn't deserve with everything that she's achieved in the game and putting women's goalkeeping on the map for the younger generation inspiring to now be a goalkeeper,” Hampton says. “It was never really a thing, and Mary's changed that. There’s so many more young boys and girls taking part in goalkeeping, which was never the case when I was growing up.”

Hampton was Earps’ understudy along with Ellie Roeback at Euro 2022 and the last World Cup (The FA via Getty Images)

Her impact is undeniable, but Earps was still accused in some quarters of putting herself above her country: an injury to Hampton or an unexpected suspension would leave the Lionesses with either the uncapped Khiara Keating or Anna Moorhouse in goal during the Euros. It deprives England of an influential character in the squad, too, at a time when the defending champions will also be without a key leader in vice-captain Millie Bright – missing the tournament as she battles mental and physical burnout.

Hampton, though, can offer nothing but praise. She sent Earps a message to congratulate her on an “unbelievable” international career, adding that she wasn’t expecting to receive one in return. “I think that's all I really can do,” she shrugs. Beth Mead, sat alongside Hampton during England’s pre-Euros media day at St George’s Park, reaffirms that she will have the support of the squad. “Ultimately Hannah just needs to play each game at a time, enjoy her football,” Mead says. “She’s there for a reason.”

And if the comparisons to Earps are inevitable, Hampton is more aware than anyone of the role she now has to play and the path there is to follow. “We're gonna miss her as a person here,” Hampton says. “She's a big personality in this team and she glued us all together at times when we needed to be. I think it's been difficult for everyone to come to terms with what her decision is, but we have to respect that.”

Hampton pauses. “And yeah, now I've got to just go and live up to her legacy. I'll give it my best shot for sure.”