Chelsea women’s head coach Sonia Bompastre has hit back at Mary Earps, telling her teammates and coaches to show “respect” after criticizing Hannah Hampton.
On Friday, excerpts from Arps’ new book, All In, were published in the Guardian, in which he revealed he had told England women’s coach Sarina Wigman that Hampton would be rewarded for her “bad behavior” by having her return to the Lionesses squad in 2023.
Arps said Hampton’s “behind-the-scenes actions frequently threatened to derail training sessions and team resources” during England’s home victory at Euro 2022, and said Wiegmann responded when asked about the idea of bringing Hampton back into the squad: “It doesn’t feel good.”
The 32-year-old remained England’s number one and reached the 2023 World Cup final, but in April 2024 Wiegmann decided to give Hampton a “second chance” and reinstated her in the squad for the Euro 2025 qualifier against Sweden.
She then made Hampton her first-choice goalkeeper for Euro 2025, with England successfully defending the competition thanks to the Blues stopper saving two penalties in the final. This decision prompted Arps to announce his retirement from international football five weeks before the tournament.
The explosive revelation came less than 24 hours after Hampton was set to start in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over London City Lionesses in the WSL, with Bompastar immediately defending the goalkeeper.
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and London City Lionesses.
She added that Arps should “think twice before speaking” about the England manager, who helped England manager Wiegman win three consecutive European titles.
“I think Hannah will be fine, but of course it’s tough because Hannah is an athlete and a human being at the same time. It’s never nice to hear comments like this,” Bompastar said in the post-match press conference.
“She has grown so much since I joined Chelsea, she is a professional athlete and a good person as well. We have a really good relationship and I want to support her in this situation.”
“I would also say it’s more respectful. From what I’ve read from Mary Earps, you can’t be disrespectful to your teammates and your coach. We’re talking about Hannah, but I also want to speak up for Sarina.”
Mary Earps criticized Sarina Wigman’s decision to select Hampton as her first choice for goalkeeper
“When you say something about a player who has won three Euros in a row, you should think twice before you say it. Hannah gets on well with us and the whole club, myself, the staff and the players, are all rooting for her.”
“What she was able to accomplish today showed how top-notch and professional she is. It’s always tough when someone has to read these comments. The fact that she was able to play and even compete and perform shows how good she is. I think she’s the best goalkeeper in the world in many ways, both athletically and mentally.”
“If you look at what Hannah said in her previous comments about Mary Earp, what Mary is saying about her now, one of them is class, and Hannah is class one.”
Hampton (right) takes Wiegman’s England No. 1 spot from Earps (centre).
Hampton has previously spoken favorably of Arps, especially since her retirement, and in September the PSG goalkeeper presented her former Lionesses teammate with the inaugural Women’s Yashin Trophy.
Hampton said of Earps earlier this year: “I think there was quite a bit of scrutiny that she probably didn’t deserve, with everything she achieved in the game and bringing female goalkeepers to the attention of the younger generation. Goalkeeping was never special, but Mary changed that.”
The Chelsea stopper, who helped the club win the domestic treble last season, kept a clean sheet against London City on Saturday, becoming the first goalkeeper to prevent him from scoring this season.
After the match, Bompastre told Sky Sports: “Hannah is a very good professional. She’s a great player and it’s great to have her in the team. I really think she’s the best goalkeeper in the world, so we’d rather have her in the team elsewhere.”
Earps: This is not a story about heroes and villains.
Arps addressed the reaction to her comments on social media Saturday night, insisting she was misrepresented and did not intend to “deliberately hurt” anyone.
“It’s not easy to be as vulnerable and open as I did in this book. I understand that my honesty and rawness will polarize opinion, and that’s okay. Everyone is entitled to feel what they feel, and I respect that.”
“Today things escalated quickly and women were at odds with each other. It’s heartbreaking to be portrayed as someone you’re not.
“I know negative things get clicks, but it’s sad that it’s the only thing being discussed. I also said some really positive things and gave credit where credit was due.
“I know people like to create drama, but please remember that this book is about my life and experiences.
“This is not a melodrama. This is reality. Picking out paragraphs and sentences here and there doesn’t reflect the content of the book. Look at the headlines and read the whole thing.”
“I would never intentionally say something to hurt someone. That’s not my style.
People can experience the same situation in different ways, but this is not a hero or villain story, just different perspectives, and multiple things can be true at the same time. ”
