England head coach Sarina Wiegman has responded to Mary Earps’ bombshell autobiography by saying she “picks teams to win” – and she would have made no changes to the way she handled both Earps and Hannah Hampton’s situations.
In her autobiography ‘All In’, former England No 1 Earps revealed she told Wiegman she was rewarding “bad behaviour” by reintegrating Hampton into the Lionesses squad in 2023 – a decision which would eventually lead to her shock international retirement ahead of Euro 2025.
Earps says Hampton’s “behaviour behind the scenes had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources” during England’s triumph on home soil at Euro 2022, and when Wiegman asked her about the idea of bringing Hampton back into the fold, she said “it didn’t make me feel comfortable”.
When Hampton was announced as England’s first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Euro 2025, the PSG goalkeeper made a shock retirement from international football just before the tournament started.
With Wiegman naming her final Lionesses squad of 2025 on Tuesday, it was the first time the head coach has spoken publicly on the Earps issue – with her press conference dominated by questions on the matter.
Earps retired from England duty just before Euro 2025, which the Lionesses won
“We have conversations, we always have conversations with different players all the time,” said Wiegman.
“What my reality is, someone’s reality can be very different. Because how you experience things is very individual.
“What I want to do is create an environment when we speak up, where I give clarity and always communicate with players where it’s necessary.
“I make decisions to win. What I’ve said all the time, is we have two incredible goalkeepers in the goalkeeper group – and we have more good goalkeepers. And in the end, I made the decision to the one I came to. That’s what it is for me.
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The Athletic’s Megan Feringa breaks down why former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has now decided to open up on her thoughts on former team-mate Hannah Hampton.
“What I should say, is I really, really enjoyed working with Mary. She’s retired now and we had incredible times. I always cherish that and really enjoyed that.”
Asked if – looking back – she would have done anything differently: “We are very thorough in what we do and over time we look at one year, the competition has been really, really hard. We had a very good goalkeeper unit, the two goalkeepers were competing for the No 1 spot.
“I think I would have done exactly the same thing. We kept communicating every time. We try to support everyone in the best possible way. I just can’t control how it comes across. There are always learnings, but I don’t think in the bigger picture I would have done things differently.”
Wiegman also revealed she has not spoken to Earps since her autobiography came out – but she has spoken to Hampton, as per her constant communication process with Lionesses players.
What did Earps say about Wiegman and Hampton?
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Goalkeeper Mary Earps opens up on the pain of retiring from the Lionesses and why she took the decision.
After winning the Euros in 2022, Earps continued as England’s No 1 for their run to the 2023 World Cup final, but in April 2024, Wiegman made the decision to give Hampton “a second chance” and restored her to the squad for a Euro 2025 qualifying match against Sweden.
The decision did not go down well with Earps, who revealed in her tell-all autobiography, All In, that she responded with: “I don’t get it. It’s a qualifier match. And bad behaviour is being rewarded.”
She wrote: “Then came the words I’d waited over 12 months to hear: ‘I’ve decided Hannah’s the No 1 for now.’ I felt the weight of my heart sink to the floor and the relief that I had finally had clarity lift from my shoulders all at once. ‘She’s a little bit ahead of you,’ Sarina continued. “It’s nothing you’ve done or done wrong.’
“‘I expected this,’ I said. I had 30 seconds to say my piece. I told her I wasn’t surprised by what she’d just said, that it had been a long time coming, but I felt extremely disappointed, nonetheless.
“Then I said: ‘I just think you could have been more direct and honest from the jump.’ She wasn’t happy with that.
Earps was booed as she returned to England with PSG to face Man Utd in the Champions League
“‘No, I don’t think that’s fair. I always communicate openly. We’ve only just made this decision,’ she cut in.
“That sounded like b******** to me.
“‘Respectfully,’ I said, ‘we’re going to have to agree to disagree. You’ve made your decision. I’ve had to make one too. This will be my last camp, I’m internationally retiring.'”
The former Manchester United No 1 goes on to say that Wiegman convinced her to reverse her decision in the build-up to PSG’s league semi-final play-off in May.
“Dubiously, I told her: ‘OK, I’ll continue.’ She was pleased. Then, before we left the call she offered up, in passing: ‘Well done, I saw you won last night.’ I was glad she’d noticed, as it reinforced what she’d said. Then she said she hadn’t watched it.
“With that, I knew instantly that I’d made the wrong choice; I immediately wished I hadn’t uttered the words. I had committed to something and someone who didn’t seem committed to me; whose words, where I was concerned, still didn’t match their actions.”
Earps goes on to say, following the Champions League final in May, where she went to support her England team-mates, she called Wiegman to tell her she had changed her decision and would retire.
“‘I can’t do it,’ I said,” Earps writes. “‘Wow,’ came the reply. Her only word shook me. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said. ‘I’m so disappointed. What made you change your mind?’
“‘I don’t think I ever really did,” I replied. I couldn’t have been more honest. I had been all along.”
Hampton would go on to save two penalties as England beat Spain to win the Euros in the summer. In September, Earps was on stage to present Hampton with the inaugural women’s Yashin trophy for her performances for both Chelsea and at the Euros.
Every word from Wiegman’s press conference about Earps…
Her response to Earps’ comments…
What she’s written, that’s her book! A lot of response on it. I don’t think I can react on anything more. There are a lot of private conversations that I always keep private. So I’m not sure what you want more than that.
How do you feel about the comments?
I feel good. We have conversations, we always have conversations with different players all the time. What my reality is, someone’s reality can be very different. Because how you experience things is very individual. What I want to do is create an environment when we speak up, where I give clarity and always communicate with players where it’s necessary. I make decisions to win. What I’ve said all the time, is we have two incredible goalkeepers in the goalkeeper group – and we have more good goalkeepers. And in the end, I made the decision to the one I came to. That’s what it is for me.
What I should say, is I really, really enjoyed working with Mary. She’s retired now and we had incredible times. I always cherish that and really enjoyed that.
Did the comments hurt or disappoint you?
I don’t think I can change that. What I’m trying to do is be as honest as possible. I’m in a very good working relationship and I think that’s what we had. And I can’t control the other things. So I just stick with what I want to do, how I want to do it and try to be clear and honest as possible and make the decision to do it.
Have you spoken to Hampton about it?
Yes, of course I have a very close working relationship with coaches and also with Sonia (Bompastor). we talk a lot about players because we have many players from Chelsea also in our squad. So we had conversations and also talking about Hannah, of course we spoke to Hannah. I speak to players in between camps anyway, depending on where they’re at and if it’s necessary to speak to them.
Unfortunately, Hannah is injured now so she can’t come to camp, but I did speak to her, yes.
Was Hampton put in a difficult situation by all this?
Well, of course it’s hard. There’s a lot in media and social media.
It’s hard anyway and this is hard too. A lot of the situations are hard too, but I think there’s so much stuff going on on the socials all the time with scrutiny and that’s a different situation of course. But I think players are in an environment now and have to deal with lots of stuff and this is one of the two.
How frustrating is this when you have to prepare for a camp, and there are questions like this?
Yeah, of course. That’s your job too, I think. So you have to ask these questions. No, but it’s nice to talk football.
This is the last camp of this year. It’s been a very special year. It’s a homecoming, so we’re going to play in another Wembley with over 80,000 tickets sold, which is incredible. We’ve felt so much support from the fans here in England but also when we are abroad, so that’s very special.
And we also go to Southampton, which of course I hope more tickets will be sold too, which also is really nice because that was my very first game in 2021 when I came in. So it’s exciting to go into camp and then to have the squad that we’re going with.
Were you surprised about the comments?
Surprised? No, not surprised. We know we’re very visible as a team, so when it’s about football or other things, there will be visibility and there will be attention for it, so I wasn’t surprised.
This can be a divisive situation, are you worried it will cause disruption?
No, I’m not worried about that. In teams, there’s always dynamics going on. We’re working with people and everyone’s different, so no matter what topic there is, there’s always conversations going on.
Sometimes you need some more effort in it, sometimes a little less effort in it. You just want to be open and I want my door to be open at all times and have conversations when that’s needed or when someone needs support and you have a random and intergenerational play for whatever reason.
I do that too, so in general, there’s always conversations going on and we’re always trying to get everyone in the same direction we are with it.
Is it disappointing you’ve built this culture and now conversations were made public?
Yeah, of course. As I always say, I always keep conversations private. Of course, I share things here (in the media), but when I have individual conversations about whatever, I’ll keep that private because I think that builds trust.
And I think when I do that, I think players will come to me and have conversations with me and I can have those conversations too.
So that’s my approach and that’s what I say always about we create an environment where we want people to be themselves and everyone’s different and I think that’s nice too because you want to get to know each other.
What you’re trying to do is to know the person so good that you know how to support them in the best way but also not out to challenge necessarily.
At the same time, when they feel that things are staying with me, the door is always open but they come in and you keep sharing things because I think that really helps on and off the pitch and helps connecting people.
How have you managed this unprecedented situation?
I just keep doing my job and I try to stay out of things as always. I know this is another situation but there’s always things going on and always things that are public.
So what I always think is what do I have to do to bring the team together and to play the best game? The next game we play which of course will be China. I keep focusing on who are we going to select, which games are we going to watch live, which games are we going to watch on TV, how do I collaborate with the staff? And then move on. Do the analysis and then get ready for the next week.
How do you make sure this situation isn’t repeated?
I can’t control that. As I say all the time I can never control the mood of other people.
What I try to do is communicate at all times and find the right positions in what I think is the best team to compete for the next game or tournament and find the right positions to win. That’s fine.
Looking back, would you have changed anything?
As I said, I think we’re very proud of what we do and over time, if we look at one year, the competition has been really, really hard. As I said, we had a good, very good goalkeeper unit and the two goalkeepers were competing for the number one spots.
I think I would have done exactly the same thing and we kept communicating every time. As always, we try to support in the best possible way, I just can’t control how it comes across. And there’s always learnings but I don’t think we did a good job with it obviously.
Has this episode saddened you?
Well, of course you hope that things are always positive but that’s also not how it works in football and when you’re so visible. So that’s the results, not because of something else and that’s just the case, that’s just the situation and you’re trying to deal with it in the best possible way and try to solve whatever things need to be solved and move forward.
How has Hampton dealt with this?
I think that’s the question for her. Like I said, I had conversations with her and I had a lot of conversations with her because now she’s injured. We have conversations with different players and with more players and so I did also with her and what the content of the conversation is, I always keep that in mind.
