Tackling a sportswear giant & making goalkeeping cool - Earps' legacy

Few international retirements have shocked women's football in the way Mary Earps' decision did.

Two years after winning back-to-back Fifa Best goalkeeper awards, and nine months on from a high-profile move to Paris St-Germain, nobody predicted that Earps would withdraw from duty five weeks before Euro 2025.

England manager Sarina Wiegman itted she was "disappointed", and had hoped Earps would play an "important role" this summer.

So why has one of England's most loved footballers decided to retire now? What legacy will she leave? And what does the future look like without her?

Earps' position at the top of the goalkeeping pecking order came under threat last year with the emergence of Chelsea's Hannah Hampton.

Wiegman said in April that Hampton was "a bit ahead of Earps" after she had started her third match in a row, including a crucial 1-0 win over world champions Spain at Wembley in the Women's Nations League.

The England manager had previously been reluctant to comment on the goalkeeping battle but that statement was a strong nod towards the summer.

It's understood that Earps held discussions with Wiegman before she was scheduled to the squad at St George's Park this week about her position for the Euros.

She later told her team-mates her decision on Monday and did not train, before returning home and withdrawing from matches against Portugal and Spain.

Earps will have known her chances of regaining the number one spot were slimming and she itted in her statement that it was a "new era for England".

Having experienced setbacks with England before - most notably when she was dropped by Phil Neville following a 2-1 defeat by at Wembley in 2019, not returning to the international stage for two years - she will not have been keen to experience it again.

Wiegman's shock and disappointment was clear. Earps has been a vital member of England's major tournament successes, acting as a leader. Her decision to step down five weeks before Euro 2025 has rocked the squad.

Earps' impact on the growth of women's football and England's success has been enormous.

As well as playing a key role in England's Euro 2022 victory, she was vice-captain as they reached the 2023 World Cup final, saving a penalty in their defeat by Spain.

More standout moments in the inaugural Women's Finalissima followed and she earned a high-profile move from Manchester United to Paris St-Germain last summer.

She has also been showered with individual accolades, winning the Fifa Best goalkeeper award twice, as well as the Golden Glove for the best keeper at the 2023 World Cup.

Her impact off the pitch has been as significant.

She used her platform to speak out, discussing her personal mental health struggles while collecting her award at the Fifa Best event in 2023.

But perhaps her most notable intervention came when she called out Nike for failing to sell England women's goalkeeper shirts before the World Cup, which led to a petition gathering more than 150,000 signatures and the sportswear giant making a U-turn.

At England games, fans would scream her name to sign autographs and take photos, while a mural outside Old Trafford was painted following Euro 2022.

A plaque honouring Earps was installed in her home city, Nottingham, where she also has a tram named after her.

She was also the first female footballer to have a waxwork figure made at Madame Tussauds, winning a public vote.

Her status as a firm fan favourite was cemented when she won BBC's Sports Personality of the Year in 2023, showing her profile had transcended football.

Earps herself said in February 2023 she wanted to make goalkeeping "cool" and there can be no dispute that she has done that.

She went from being cast aside by Neville in 2019, to dancing on the press conference table with a Euro 2022 winners' medal around her neck and roaring in celebration as she made crucial penalty saves in 2023.

Wiegman's disappointment at Earps' decision to pull out of Euro 2025 is understandable given there is little experience in the goalkeeping department.

Hampton is a strong number one and has progressed this season, taking on the baton of Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper and playing in a Women's Champions League semi-final.

Six of Hampton's 13 England appearances have come in the past 15 months. There are no doubts the 24-year-old is ready.

However, neither of the other two goalkeepers in England's current squad - Khiara Keating, 20, and Anna Moorhouse, 30 - have won a senior cap.

Keating is still competing for Manchester City's number one spot, while Moorhouse has enjoyed success in the United States with Orlando Pride but is very much an unknown given her first England squad call-up came in July 2024.

Barcelona's Ellie Roebuck, 25, is a previous England number one and started all four games for Team GB at the delayed Olympic Games in 2021.

But she has found herself on the periphery under Wiegman and has not been in the squad after recovering from a stroke last year.

Earps' international retirement leaves a significant gap in England's Euros squad. Finding someone to take that place will not be easy.

Former England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley said she can understand if Wiegman is "pretty upset" because Earps' decision has left the Lionesses "incredibly vulnerable" given the lack of experienced options if Hampton gets injured.

"In a situation like this the team should be the first and foremost priority," she told BBC Radio 5 Live

"It is sad Mary feels that now is the right time to step down and she deserves credit, but, bigger picture, this leaves a lot of pressure on a young Hannah Hampton's shoulders."

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