Chelsea Women head coach Sonia Bompastor has hit back at Mary Earps, telling her to show “respect” for her teammates and coaches following her criticism of Hannah Hampton.
On Friday, parts of Earps’ new book, All In, were serialised in the Guardian, in which she revealed she had told England Women coach Sarina Wiegman she was rewarding “bad behaviour” by reintegrating Hampton into the Lionesses squad in 2023.
Earps says Hampton’s “behaviour behind the scenes had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources” during England’s triumph on home soil at Euro 2022 and when Wiegman asked her about the idea of bringing Hampton back into the fold, she said “it doesn’t make me feel comfortable”.
The 32-year-old continued as England’s No 1 for their run to the 2023 World Cup final, but in April 2024 Wiegman made the decision to give Hampton “a second chance” and restored her to the squad for a Euro 2025 qualifying match against Sweden.
She later made Hampton her first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Euro 2025 – which England successfully defended thanks to two penalties saved by the Blues stopper in the final – a decision which led to Earps announcing her retirement from international football five weeks before the tournament.
The explosive revelations came less than 24 hours before Hampton started for Chelsea as they beat London City Lionesses 2-0 in the WSL, and Bompastor was quick to defend her goalkeeper.
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and London City Lionesses.
She also came to the aid of England boss Wiegman, adding that Earps should “think about it before you speak” against a manager who has won three successive European titles.
“I think Hannah is fine, but of course it’s tough because Hannah is an athlete but also a person. That’s never nice to hear these comments,” Bompastor said in her post-match press conference.
“Since I joined Chelsea she has grown so much and is such a professional athlete and also a good person. We have a really good relationship together and I want to show her my support in this situation.
“I would also like to say it’s more about respect. With what I read in terms of the comments coming from Mary Earps, it’s not acceptable to not show respect to your team-mates or managers. We are talking about Hannah, but also I want to raise my voice for Sarina.
Mary Earps criticised Sarina Wiegman’s decision to make Hampton her first choice goalkeeper
“When you use some words saying something about someone who won the Euros three times in a row, you should probably think about it before you speak. Hannah has been fine with us and all the club – myself, the staff and the players – are all behind her.
“What she was able to achieve today showed how much she is class and professional. It’s always tough for someone to have to read these comments. The fact she was even able to play and start the game and perform shows how good she is. I think she is the best goalkeeper in the world, in many ways, as an athlete and also mentally.
“If you look at what Hannah said in the previous comments about Mary Earps then what Mary is saying about her now, one of them is class and Hannah is the class one.”
Hampton (right) usurped Earps (centre) as Wiegman’s England No 1
Hampton had previously spoken fondly of Earps, especially after her retirement, with the PSG goalkeeper presenting her former Lionesses teammate with the inaugural women’s Yashin trophy in September.
Hampton said of Earps earlier this year: “I think there’s been quite a bit of scrutiny that she probably doesn’t deserve, with everything that she’s achieved in the game, as well as putting women’s goalkeeping on the map for the younger generation. Goalkeeping was never really a thing, and Mary has changed that.”
The Chelsea stopper – who helped the club to a domestic treble last season – kept a clean sheet against London City on Saturday, becoming the first goalkeeper to stop them from scoring this term.
After the game, Bompastor told Sky Sports: “Hannah is such a great professional. She’s a great player and great for me to have her in my team. I really think she’s the best goalkeeper in the world so it’s better to have her in my team that somewhere else.”
Earps: This is not about heroes and villains
Taking to social media on Saturday evening, Earps addressed the reaction to her comments and claimed she was being misrepresented and did not mean to “intentionally hurt” anyone.
She wrote: “It’s not easy to be as vulnerable and open as I have been in the book, and I understand that my honesty and rawness will divide opinion. That’s ok, everyone is entitled to feel what they feel and I respect that.
“Things have escalated really quickly today, women pitted against each other. It’s gut-wrenching to be portrayed as someone you’re not.
“I know that the negative is what gets clicks but it’s sad that that’s the only thing being discussed – I also said some really positive things and gave credit where it’s due.
“I know that people like to create drama, but please remember, this book is about my life and my experiences.
“This is not a soap opera, this is real life. Pulling out a paragraph, or a sentence here and there is not a reflection of the contents of the book. Please see through the headlines, and read it in its entirety.
“I would never intentionally say things to hurt someone. That’s not my style.
People can experience the same situation differently, this is not about heroes and villains, just different perspectives – multiple things can be true at once.”
