Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor sprang to the defence of her goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and England boss Sarina Wiegman after apparently critical comments from former Lionesses keeper Mary Earps were serialised in the media.
Earps had suggested that Hampton’s previous behaviour should have ruled her out of an England recall at the start of 2023.
And Bompastor said that Hampton was unperturbed about the ongoing furore.
“I think Hannah is fine,” Bompastor said in her post-match press conference after Chelsea beat London City Lionesses 2-0 on Saturday to maintain their unbeaten run at the start of the Women’s Super League season.
“It’s tough because Hannah is an athlete but also a person and it is never nice to hear these comments.
“The only thing I want to say about Hannah is that, since I joined Chelsea, she has grown so much. She’s 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.”
Sonia Bompastor: Show respect to your team-mate and your manager
Those comments about her own player might have been expected, but the Frenchwoman also then took the opportunity to speak up for Wiegman. Earps had disagreed with Wiegman’s decision over recalling Hampton, and unsurprisingly did not agree with her choice to select Hampton as first-choice goalkeeper going into the 2025 Euros, hinting that she felt she had not had “clarity” in the months preceding that squad selection.
“I just feel like with what I read in terms of comments coming from Mary Earps, it is not acceptable not to show respect to your teammate or your manager. We are talking about Hannah but I am also raising my voice for Sarina. I just think when you use some words saying something about someone who won the European Championship three times in a row, you should probably think about it before you speak.”
She then returned to the subject of her goalkeeper: “Hannah has been fine with us and all the club, myself, the staff and the players are all behind her.
“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.”
