Mary Earps has reflected on the major talking points of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the latest extract of her new autobiography serialised in the Guardian.
Describing her penalty save in the final against Spain, she said that it caught the attention of non-football fans: “Even people who weren’t into football were excited by the display, praising the execution, the composure and the swearing that followed.”
She added: “[T]he way the save, or a goalkeeper for that matter, was being talked about was on a scale that was unprecedented in the women’s game.”
Earps wrote that the extent of this reaction surprised her because by this point she was 30 and had “been doing the same thing [her] whole career, the same repetition, same consistency, same composure, with barely anyone noticing until a year earlier.”
Mary Earps on Nike U-turn on England goalkeeper shirts
And she also gave an insight into her response to the decision from Nike to not sell replica Lionesses goalkeeper shirts, which had led to a big media response as well as online petitions.
She wrote: “I had been unafraid and unapologetic in using my voice, and I’d backed it up with performances that demanded visibility too. It resonated.”
She notes that Nike decided to “U-turn” after the final bearing in mind the amount of public reaction to the tournament.
“[W]hen my shirts began to go on sale a few weeks later, they sold out with each restock,” she added. “I had taken on a global sports giant and won, entirely from a place of choosing my principles.”
What Mary Earps had previously said about the situation
Earps had previously reflected to the media shortly after this happened: “They know that they got this wrong and that’s why they’ve done this correction. A big company like Nike, they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t know it wasn’t right and that there was an injustice there.”
She won the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award following her performances at the Women’s World Cup and her rise to public attention.
Earps’ controversial autobiography
Mary Earps’ autobiography ‘All In’ is released this week and is currently being serialised in the Guardian.
A previous extract recounted Earps’ memories of the events leading up to her international retirement ahead of the 2025 Women’s Euros, in which she criticised successor Hannah Hampton’s behaviour and England boss Sarina Wiegman’s decision to recall her.
