Hannah Hampton's unveiling as England No 1 turned into a nightmare
It will be fascinating to know what Mary Earps thinks about her demotion, after so long in the spotlight but especially following England's shock defeat by Belgium.
The former Manchester United goalkeeper had been No 1 since Sarina Wiegman's appointment in September 2021, but her grip had been loosening for a while.
Wiegman has rotated between the two for almost a year and you could argue there was no need to declare who is first choice given the competition might have been good for them. Wiegman, though, will do things her way and, given her record, she has earned trust in her judgment.
After months of avoiding a definitive answer on the goalkeeper conundrum, Wiegman's message before the game was clear: Hampton is No 1 and Earps will have to be satisfied with a back-up role heading into the European Championship.
'She is a little bit ahead at this moment in time,' Wiegman said of Hampton. 'She has been great on and off the pitch. We are very fortunate we have two world-class goalkeepers…'
England do, but clearly Wiegman feels Hampton is the better of the two. Whether she has changed her mind after Hampton's performance against Belgium will be interesting. But she is not prone to changing her mind, especially on such a crucial call, so close to a tournament.
Having been told the good news, Hampton would have liked a more reassuring night than the one in Leuven. Belgium had four attempts on target inside the first half an hour and scored from three of them – that is never going to reflect well on a goalkeeper.
In truth, far more blame should be attributed to the defence, as Belgium played through them with ease, but this was not what Hampton needed so soon after being told she had moved ahead of Earps in the pecking order.
There was little the Chelsea goalkeeper could do to prevent their hosts taking the lead in the second minute. But she could have perhaps done better with the looping header that gave Belgium their second 15 minutes later.
If Hampton has a weakness, she is not as commanding in her box as Earps and was arguably caught in no man's land, a few steps off her line but in no position to claim the cross.
WHAT A START FOR BELGIUM! 🇧🇪🇧🇪
Justine Vanhaevermaet doubles their lead with a looping header 💥 #ITVFootball | #UWNL pic.twitter.com/F0ox45vmhb
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) April 8, 2025
Even for Belgium's third goal, Hampton made a step forward as though she was going to try to cut out the cross, only to stop. Millie Bright also hesitated – suggesting afterwards she had been put off by the keeper – and failed to clear. The centre-back should have taken control of the situation.
THE COMMENTATOR'S CURSE IS ALIVE AND WELL! 🎙️
It's Tessa Wullaert at the double ⚽️⚽️
Belgium are on fire 🔥 #ITVFootball | #UWNL pic.twitter.com/LEs4GgnYeo
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) April 8, 2025
Hampton did make a good save to prevent it becoming four before half-time and Wiegman's mind appears to be made up.
In truth, the signs have been pointing in this direction for a while. It was last July, for the European qualifiers against Ireland and Sweden – games England could not afford to lose – that Earps was left out of the side for the first time when fit under Wiegman. Hampton did well and has not really put a foot wrong since.
Nevertheless, it is a big call at a pivotal moment in the Lionesses' preparations as they look to defend their European crown. Earps must show she can now be a good team-mate as well as a rival.
Wiegman has gone with the younger player, the one with less experience, but someone who is first choice for Chelsea, the team dominating the domestic club scene.
Hampton is a good shot-stopper, but there is little to choose between her and Earps in this respect. Where she is clearly superior is with the ball at her feet, which is important to the style of football England want to play.
It is also worth noting that, at the age of 24, Hampton is front and centre in the Women's Super League while Earps's move to Paris St-Germain has backfired. She did not play in the Champions League group stage after PSG were knocked out in the preliminary rounds and initially struggled to adapt in France. Is it also a case of out of sight, out of mind?
Earps said in an interview with The Guardian last week that it 'had been nice to escape the noise' in Paris. 'I'm really pleased I took the bold move,' she added. 'Of course, the start, and getting knocked out of the Champions League – it feels like a million years ago to be honest – was difficult to take. But I look at it almost a year on and I'm so pleased I was brave enough to move. I feel like a better player.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edinburgh Reporter
11 hours ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Duncan: ‘early goal put us on the back foot'
Scotland lost 5-0 to Belgium in their final Pool B match in the EuroHockey Championships in Germany, in temperatures around 33c, but head coach Chris Duncan admitted: 'It was a tough game against a truly outstanding side.' Belgium are ranked No 3 in the world with Scotland at No 15 and West Lothian-based Duncan said: 'This was a free shot for us, and we had a plan that we believed in. 'Their pressure at the beginning got us on the back foot.' Scotland now face two key games in cross-over ties to decide where they finish in the star-studded event in Monchengladbach. Duncan said: 'We are really looking forward to our last two games and fully believe that we can with both.' Scotland did score from a penalty corner, Amy Costello slotting when the scoreline was 4-0 against, but the goal was chalked off and Duncan said: 'Umpires need to make decisions and, whilst we are frustrated at it not being allowed, we can't do anything about it.' Ambre Bellenghien netted in the first minute and the same player was on the score sheet 17 minutes later for 2-0 following a penalty corner. Justine Rasir added a third after 27 minutes with Stephane Vanden Borre slotting a penalty stroke six minutes later, the goal coming one minute into the third quarter. Astrid Bonami added the fifth six minutes after that from a penalty corner. TALKING TACTICS: Chris Duncan (left) and his assistant, Jimmy Culnane. Picture Nigel Duncan Like this: Like Related
BBC News
14 hours ago
- BBC News
Rangers on cusp of something special - if they can address critical issues
Rangers are just one tie away from the riches and prestige that comes with Champions League qualification, but few who have watched Russell Martin's new side so far this season will be getting carried have delivered one convincing performance (at home to Viktoria Plzen) in the six they have played and will need to improve significantly before Club Brugge visit Ibrox next midweek if they are to have any chance of overcoming the is inconceivable that Brugge will not more ruthlessly punish the slackness in possession that has plagued Rangers as they try to adapt to Martin's methods than either Panathinaikos or Plzen were able head coach says it's a process and that with each passing game and training session, the players will improve in the system, but while they have got away with it in Europe, both Motherwell and Dundee have taken points off them in the Rangers supporters have not been slow to vent their displeasure. Ibrox on Saturday was an uncomfortable place to be as Martin's decision to bring on Kieran Dowell to try to retrieve the game against Dundee was met with boos from the stands and a generally insipid performance led to the stands emptying long before James Tavernier's penalty earned a visit on Saturday in the League Cup - a no-win scenario for Martin, but an opportunity potentially to introduce Mikey Moore and Thelo Aasgaard into the is expected of both as Rangers stand on the cusp of something special, but only if they can address critical issues that threaten to derail their season almost before it has begun.
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Hannah Hampton regrets revealing water bottle trick after hate comments on grandfather tribute
Hannah Hampton has said she regrets revealing the water bottle trick she used during the penalty shootout that decided the Euro 2025 final after online hate comments targeted a tribute she had written to her recently-deceased grandfather. England dramatically beat world champions Spain 3-1 on penalties to retain their European Championship title with goalkeeper Hampton the hero as she saved spot-kicks from Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati, while Salma Paralluelo missed. In the days after the final, Hampton – who had usurped Mary Earps as England's No 1 in the build-up to the tournament, leading the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year to retire from Lionesses duty rather than be a back-up – revealed she had spotted Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll's cheat sheet for England's penalty preferences on her water bottle during the shootout and tossed it into the crowd. Coll was visibly confused to find a replacement bottle – which Hampton had put there after discarding the original – without her notes, and searched in vain for initial one. However, the Spain No 1 has since disputed Hampton's claim about her notes being tossed into the crowd, quote-tweeting a clip of the talkSPORT interview and writing: 'Okay, okay, calm down, calm down. At least if it were true...' Hampton appeared on ITV show Lorraine on Wednesday (13 August) morning to discuss the incident and admitted to guest host Ranvir Singh that she regrets telling the world about her trick due to the online hate she has received, most notably on a social media post she wrote in tribute to her grandfather, who passed away two days before Euro 2025 and who she described as her 'biggest supporter'. 'I wish I didn't say it in the first instance because it's brought so much hate,' said Hampton. 'The outside people bringing in hate because it disproves people. It's just hard. 'If I could take it back, I wish I didn't say anything. It's positive and negative. It's great there's so much engagement with the women's game now and people are interested in what you say but you open yourself up to hate. 'It's difficult because people just jump on it and make comments that are unnecessary. Bringing hate comments. There's a lot of hate. My thing is, I wish I didn't say it because on the post I put about my grandad, people are saying that's why he's gone [because she threw Coll's water bottle in the crowd]. There's five bottles on the floor, I know I've picked one up, she's saying it's not hers. In that moment, I've genuinely thought it is hers. 'It's hard. Being in the public eye, you learn the hard way. We're human. I've made mistakes many times. You learn from it and you move on. I've got nothing but respect for Cata, it wasn't done in a disrespectful way.' Although Coll has since denied the claims, insisting it wasn't her water bottle that Hampton threw into the crowd, the England goalkeeper had explained her thought process during the talkSPORT interview with Sam Matterface. Hampton said: 'The Spanish keeper had it (the penalty information) on her bottle, so I thought when she was going in goal, I'd just pick it up and chuck it into the English fans so she can't have it. I don't ever put it on a bottle because anyone can do that so I put it on my arm. 'It wasn't hard. When she's gone in the goal, it's on its own isn't it? It's in the towel.' 'She was walking back to take the penalty and I was walking the other way and she was so confused, and I was just trying not to burst out laughing, being like, 'I don't know what's happening'.' Hampton subsequently became one of five Lionesses to be nominated for the Women's Ballon d'Or, alongside Lucy Bronze, Chloe Kelly, Alessia Russo and Leah Williamson.
