‘I was villainised’: Mary Earps hurt by reaction to her England retirement | OneFootball

Mary Earps has said the support of her England teammates meant “the absolute world to me” after feeling “villainised” by the wider reaction to the announcement of her international retirement in May.

The Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper, who played a key part in England’s European Championship triumph in 2022 as well as their progress to the World Cup final a year later, largely received criticism for making a call on her international future less than six weeks before the opening game of the Lionesses’ defence of their European title. Earps, however, has insisted it was a “very hard decision” that had been on her mind for a long time.

“It was difficult and it was painful,” said Earps, who earned 53 caps for her country. “Some people were amazing and the girls, the way they had my back … that meant the absolute world to me. These are girls that I grew up with and have so many amazing memories with. It was sad but I think it’s the right thing.

“I think that I was villainised in a way, that probably was a bit hard to see things and read things, but it’s more what my friends and family see. I’m upset for them because I’m like: ‘You didn’t choose this. You’ve got to now deal with this.’ That’s hard. But in the end I feel like it was the right decision.”

Speaking to the broadcaster Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast, Earps was asked if she would find it hard to watch the Lionesses this summer. “I don’t want it to be painful watching them but I won’t know until it’s there because I felt almost a bit of relief because it had been so long coming,” the 32-year-old former Manchester United player said, referring to her retirement.

“The girls are, first of all, a phenomenal team. I think they’re going to do really, really well, so I’m really looking forward to seeing that.

“Mentally, physically, I was just like: ‘Right, I’ve given everything here.’ Maybe other people weren’t experiencing it the way I was experiencing it. I’m quite private, I keep everything in and I try to internalise it and rationalise it. Maybe it was shocking to some people but I think [that was because] we’ve been having those conversations behind closed doors.”

Happy Place with Fearne Cotton is available to listen to wherever you get your podcasts.

Header image: [Photograph: Action Plus Sports Images/Alamy]