Devastating incident the almost forced England hero Mary Earps to quit football
Goalkeeper Mary Earps will still be pinching herself after being voted BBC Sports Personality of the year this week.
It’s not that she does not deserve an accolade once handed to another football great, Bobby Moore, but because less than three years ago she almost packed in the sport she loves. Dropped from the national team by then manager Phil Neville, a new Manchester United contract was not enough to get by on.
She said: “I was down and out. There was no way my career was going to be resurrected. It was dead and gone. Run over 3,000 times and trampled by a million elephants. “I can vividly remember the days of feeling really down. I got to a point where I felt I had sort of reached my limits. I had given football a good go, but wasn’t quite good enough. I had responsibilities, I had a mortgage and it wasn’t adding up.”
It was her fellow keeper at United, David de Gea who saved Mary, urging her not to retire. And then England got a new manager, Sarina Wiegman. Mary said: “She saw something in me I didn’t see in myself. I’d lost confidence. She said, ‘I’ve been watching you – just go out there and be yourself. That’s what you’ve been selected for’. I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity Sarina gave me.” Since then, Mary has cemented her place as England’s No1, won the Euros, become a World Cup finalist and been hailed the best goalkeeper in the women’s game.
Mary Earps and Chloe Kelly of England pose during the official FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 (FIFA via Getty Images)While the Lionesses lost 1-0 to Spain in the World Cup final in Sydney, Mary saved a penalty from Jenni Hermoso and won the tournament’s Golden Glove award. Then she won a battle with Nike to make them sell Mary Earps replica shirts. Nike had refused to sell the Lionesses’ goalkeeper jerseys, which Mary said was “very hurtful”, but a petition signed by more than 150,000 people forced Nike to have a rethink.
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Earlier this month, the second batch of replica Mary Earps England shirts sold out within five minutes in the England online store. Yesterday, Prince William, President of the Football Association, congratulated Mary on her Sports Personality of the Year award, which he said was “hugely well deserved”.
Mary Earps saving a goal at Doncaster in 2011 (Chris Clark-Rossington)Growing up in Nottingham, the daughter of David and Julie, who run their own businesses in food consultancy and telesales, Mary started in football with kickabouts in the garden with her dad and brother Joel. Then, at West Bridgford Colts, aged 10, she pulled on her first goalkeeping gloves. She said: “I was a young girl who wasn’t afraid of diving around in the mud, I wasn’t afraid of the ball and so I saved it. That’s how the great love affair started.”
She went to The Becket School, also attended by fellow England footballer Jermaine Jenas. Mary said: “Obviously at different times. Jermaine has had a fantastic career. Our school was particularly proud of pupils who went on to big things.” Now, she too is a role model for kids in the city. Last year, after England won the Euros, I visited West Bridgford Colts FC. The then Under-9 Girls team coach Laura Stenhouse said that before Mary’s Euro turn, the role of goalkeeper was the hardest to fill. She said: “They used to think being a goalie was boring, but now they all want the chance to emulate her.”
Mary as a youngster playing for her local teamLottie Forshaw spoke for all the girls in the team when she said: “Mary made so many saves to get England to the final. We wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for her.” Women’s football is now relatively lucrative, but at 17, while dreaming of emulating Nottingham Forest and England keeper Peter Shilton, Mary took a Saturday job at a card shop. Her old boss Paul Alexander said: “She used to live in Peter Shilton’s old house. When we were quiet, we’ve got a box of footballs, and she’d pick a ball out and start doing keepie-uppies.”
Mary Earps and Jill Scott lark about on the red carpet (@Lionesses / Twitter)Having joined Leicester City’s Centre of Excellence at 14, four years later Mary turned professional, signing with Doncaster Rovers Belles. Thanks to her success on the pitch and on social media, not to mention deals with the likes of Adidas, her financial future is secure. But in 2011 she had six jobs to get by. On Jill Scott ’s podcast, she said: “There was no real money in the game back then.” There have been sexist snipes about her SPOTY award, but her Man U coach, Chris Clark-Rossington said the honour was well-deserved. he said: “Mary has got it all. She’s one of the nicest footballers I’ve met.”
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