'I've just got to go and live up to Mary Earps's legacy'

England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton talks of proving her critics wrong and her daunting role at Euro 2025 next month

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

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.

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's 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's 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's decision to quit, at 32, that was the surprise, not the confirmation Hampton would be replacing her between the posts.