
England star Hannah Hampton reveals family heartbreak before Euro 2025 heroics and hidden kit tribute in emotional post
The goalkeeper saved two penalties to help the Lionesses to European glory once again on Sunday.
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However, she revealed after the historic win that she had been grieving the death of her grandfather.
Hampton penned an emotional message on Instagram which read: "Two days before the biggest tournament of my life, you left.
"It still doesn't feel real. I kept thinking when I'd call nannie I'd hear your voice again - one of your jokes, or one of those little comments you'd make that somehow said everything without saying much at all.
"You were one of my biggest supporters. You believed in me before I even knew what this journey would look like. You were always there - watching, encouraging, teaching. You taught me so much, not just about football, but about life. About staying grounded, working hard, being resilient and doing things the right way.
"I miss our chats. I miss you saying 'Only us athletes understand' — always with a little smirk like you were in on something special. And you were. You got it. You understood what this meant to me. You understood what it took."
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