Mary Earps responds to Chelsea boss’s savage comments amid bitter Hannah Hampton spat
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has made headlines with her brutal comments on Mary Earps, whose new autobiography includes explosive claims regarding ex-team-mate Hannah Hampton
Hannah Hampton’s ‘bad behaviour’ was rewarded, according to Mary Earps(Image: Elsa – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Mary Earps has responded to Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor’s savage takedown by insisting that she never meant to ‘intentionally hurt’ anyone. Earps, 32, was accused by Bompastor of showing a lack of ‘respect’ to former Lionesses team-mate Hannah Hampton and England boss Sarina Wiegman in a series of explosive claims from her new autobiography.
After serving as backup to Earps when the Lionesses won the Women’s European Championship in 2022, Hampton was left out of subsequent squads by Wiegman. This was reportedly due to her poor attitude.
When Hampton eventually was recalled, Earps felt that ‘bad behaviour was being rewarded’. “I felt protective of the good energy we now had in goalkeeper training and the morale of the wider team,” the Paris Saint-Germain star added in her book which is being serialised by The Guardian.
Earps continued as England’s No.1 during the 2023 World Cup but was usurped by Hampton the following year. The Chelsea shot-stopper went on to play a major role as the Lionesses won Euro 2025 this summer, with Earps having announced her retirement from international football before the start of the tournament upon receiving the news from Wiegman.
The 32-year-old’s comments came to light ahead of Chelsea’s 2-0 win against London City Lionesses in the Women’s Super League on Saturday. In her post-match press conference, Bompastor launched a fierce defence of Hampton’s character and slammed Earps, who has now responded.
“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,” Earps posted on Instagram. “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.
Mary Earps launched a rebuttal after Sonia Bompastor’s takedown (Image: Instagram/maryearps)
Earps insists that she never meant to ‘intentionally hurt’ anyone(Image: Instagram/maryearps)
“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.
“Please read it in its full context and listen to my interviews. This has been an incredibly difficult 24 hours, not just for me. I hope tomorrow will be better.”
It wasn’t just Hampton who Earps was accused of disrespecting, as Bompastor came out fighting for the highly successful Wiegman. “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,” the Chelsea manager said.
Sonia Bompastor criticised Mary Earps and defended Hannah Hampton(Image: Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
“We are talking about Hannah, but also I want to raise my voice for Sarina. 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. 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.”
