Hannah Hampton proves England's star turn – after being told she would never play elite sport

Telegraph

5 days ago

Hannah Hampton, this European Championship belongs to you. You won it, not single-handedly, of course, but no player in this magnificent, unbreakable England side did more to earn it.
If there has been a better tournament from an English goalkeeper, your memory is better than mine. Hampton, at the age of just 24, has produced something truly remarkable; undeniably special. It has been the story of the tournament, perhaps the feel-good sports story of the summer.
A tale of redemption, bravery, grit and determination. England have those qualities in abundance, but it has been their goalkeeper who turned them into back-to-back European champions.
How fitting that a team that has been cornered, with their backs against the wall, so many times in Switzerland and come out fighting, ended up winning a tournament because of the sheer defiance of their last line of defence.
There have been so many moments it looked like England would lose only to somehow find a way to win. None of it would have been possible without Hampton.
It was into the arms of her goalkeeper that manager Sarina Wiegman leapt in the wild, joyous scenes that followed their penalty shoot-out victory over Spain in Basel. She knew who had made her the first manager of an England senior team to win a tournament on foreign soil and was quick to pay tribute to the Lionesses' saviour, saying: 'Her story is remarkable, to come into the side the way she did, to make those two penalty saves in the final, it is like a fairy tale.'
A player who started the Euros campaign ruefully acknowledging that there were many England fans who did not want her to be in goal, who resented her presence – those who clung to the misguided idea Mary Earps remained superior – finishes it with the thanks and praise of the nation. Hampton the Meek has become Hampton the Great.
Imagine going into your first major tournament as a first-choice goalkeeper knowing you were not wanted and finishing it a national treasure.
Then again, imagine being a child who was told she would never be able to play elite sport because of an eye condition that gives her a lack of depth perception in her vision. Hampton has been defying the experts her whole life. She did not give up on her dreams and now she is living it.
Of all the decisions Wiegman has made this summer, it was the tough, controversial and brave call to make Hampton her No 1 that has been the most seismic.
It caused acrimony and friction back in June, when Earps responded to her demotion by suddenly retiring from international football just five weeks before the tournament began.
It dumped unnecessary and unwanted pressure on a young goalkeeper's shoulders; it had the potential to turn Hampton into a villain. Make a mistake and she would be vilified. Football can be cruel, especially for a goalkeeper, but when the pressure was on, Hampton delivered in the most awesome fashion.
She did not just win two penalty shoot-outs for the Lionesses, making two saves against Sweden and two more in the final against Spain, she bailed them out over and over again. She made important saves at big moments. She made world-class ones too, including one in the final against Spain, tipping a powerful rising shot from Claudia Pina over the bar when England were, once again, under the pump, outplayed and in danger of crumbling.
A player who has, by her own admission, battled her demons, a player who needed to grow up has done so. She has, like all of us, not always behaved impeccably. She has done some things she probably regrets, but Wiegman trusted her and has been rewarded in spectacular style.
If there was not much to choose between her and Earps in terms of shot stopping, Hampton's distribution was far superior and meant England could be more direct.
She already played for the best club side in England, Chelsea. She had won the Women's Super League, she had proven she could cope under scrutiny and handle pressure. If she could do it at club level, Wiegman had to see if she could do it on the international stage.
We have our answer. Hampton started the summer barely known outside of women's football. She ends it as a household name. She is a woman, like all of these Lionesses, we should cherish is English.
In every single knockout game, as England clung on to the tournament by their fingertips, Hampton has come up clutch. The string of saves against Sweden when England were 2-0 down and in danger of capitulation. The massive double save late on against Italy, moments before Michelle Agyemang – the other young superstar who has emerged at this tournament – scored her 97th-minute equaliser in the semi-final.
As for her athleticism and composure in the penalty shoot-outs, Hampton has been incredible. It was lost amidst the drama of the Sweden shoot-out, that the leap and fingertip save to tip Sofia Jakobsson's penalty on to the post was a stunning stop.
In the final against Spain, after Beth Mead had missed England's first kick, Hampton turned the shoot-out around. She saved at full stretch to deny the mighty Aitana Bonmati as well as kept out Mariona Caldentey's weaker effort.
On both occasions, with her shoot-out guide taped to her arm, Hampton did a little shuffle on the goal-line as the player ran up to shoot. She feigned to dive one way, with a slight step and then went the other. It was a simple trick but, in the heat of battle and with tension in the air, it illustrated a calmness and clarity of thought.
Spain fell for it. Hampton psyched them out and when Salma Paralluelo stepped up she melted, knowing she had to find the bottom corner to avoid the keeper's reach, she dragged it wide of the post.
Shoot-outs are as much a psychological test as anything and Hampton won it for England. She got into the heads of the Spanish players.
For someone so young, under so much pressure, to rise to the challenge in the way Hampton has at the Euros, England have found not only an elite goalkeeper, they have unearthed a player and a character who sums up everything that has made this team great.