Mary Earps has defended herself amidst a furore that has arisen since the serialisation of her new autobiography ‘All In’.
On Instagram, she posted that the book had been “a lot of hard work, with tears of joy and sadness.
“It’s not as easy to be 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 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.”
What did Mary Earps write about Hannah Hampton and Sarina Wiegman?
In extracts from the book published by the Guardian, Earps criticised episodes of early “bad behaviour” of her England successor Hannah Hampton. Although she did not go into detail, Earps wrote: “[H]er behaviour behind the scenes at the Euros had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources.”
And Earps was also critical of Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman’s decision to bring Hampton back into the England squad. Earps wrote that she told Wiegman that Hampton’s recall to the squad in spring 2023 made her uncomfortable, adding: “I felt protective of the good energy we now had in goalkeeper training and the morale of the wider team.”
Earps explained in the extract that she felt that Hampton’s return to the squad “reward[ed] certain behaviour”, and that was compounded when Hampton was selected to play ahead of her in April 2024.
She revealed that this was the point at which she began to consider international retirement, and she confirmed that choice in April 2025 when Wiegman said that Hampton would remain the first-choice goalkeeper going into the Euros.
Earps explained to Wiegman then that continuing didn’t “align with [her] morals and values to continue” and that she would rather Manchester City’s Khiara Keating got the experience as second-choice goalkeeper at a major tournament.
Earps says that Wiegman asked her to reverse her decision, which she did, but she quickly realised that what she described as “backtracking” was the wrong choice.
