Mary Earps: ‘I was villainised' after England retirement

New York Times

6 hours ago

Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has said that she felt 'villainised' in the reaction to what she described as a 'very hard decision' to retire from the national team.
Earps announced her retirement from international competition in May, just over a month before Euro 2025, saying that it was 'now the right time for me to step aside.'
The Athletic reported in May that England manager Sarina Wiegman had told Earps that she would not be the first-choice goalkeeper at the competition, with Chelsea's Hannah Hampton being the starter.
Wiegman and Earps had been in conversation about her retirement for the last 12 to 18 months. Wiegman asked Earps to reconsider when the 32-year-old informed the manager of her decision in April.
Earps plays for Paris Saint-Germain in the Premiere Ligue, after making the move to the French capital last year following five seasons at Manchester United.
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She said that she hopes to watch England's Euros campaign in Switzerland and feels 'okay' about her decision, but described some of the reaction to the announcement as 'difficult and painful.'
'I think that I was villainized in a way, that probably was a bit hard to see things and read things,' Earps said on the Happy Place podcast. 'But it's more what my friends and family see and then the way they interact with me. I'm like, 'oh, I know you've seen something' and then I'm upset for them because I'm like, 'You didn't choose this. You've got to now deal with this.' I'm then gutted for them…I feel like that's hard.
'But in the end, I feel like it was the right decision. I don't want it to be painful watching [England], but I won't know until it's there because I felt almost a bit of relief because it had been so long coming.
'It got to probably mentally, physically. I was just like, right, I've given everything here.'
Earps, who was capped 53 times by England and was part of the victorious Euro 2022 squad, said that it was a difficult choice to step away from the side but that she was supported by her former teammates.
'In total transparency, it's a very hard decision to make and it had been in the works for a while, but obviously, maybe other people weren't experiencing it the way I was experiencing it. I'm quite private, I keep everything in and I try and internalise it and rationalise it. I felt like it was the right decision, I still think that now.
'I think maybe it was shocking to some people but when you've been having those conversations behind closed doors. I was obviously able to tell the girls in person. They were so supportive and say goodbye. These are girls that I grew up with and have spent so much time with, so many amazing memories with. So yeah, it was sad, but I think it's the right thing and I'm really looking forward to supporting them this summer.'
England have been placed in Group D for the Euros and begin their tournament against France on July 5. Wiegman's side will also take on the Netherlands and Wales in the group stage.
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