Mary Earps exclusive interview: 'I’m not perfect, I could have done this better'
Back in Nottingham, the former England goalkeeper reflects on her autobiography backlash, a complicated England exit, and what she'd do differently
Deep in the Nottinghamshire countryside, behind an old social club, there’s a brand-new football pitch that is receiving a celebrity opening.
Hundreds of girls and their parents have gathered for the opening of The Mary Earps Pitch at Calverton Miners Welfare FC, about 30 minutes from Nottingham.
The reason all the girls are there, outside of the chance for a kickabout on a brand-new pitch, is to catch a glimpse of Earps herself, who has returned from Paris Saint-Germain to cut the ribbon at this new facility.
It’s the sort of scene we’re used to seeing for the Lionesses since their Euro 2022 triumph, but for Earps, who retired from England duty just before Euro 2025, it’s been a while since she was back amongst the England fans.
“I think it’s come at a really good time”, Earps says, speaking exclusively to The Cutback, “because I’ve been in Paris for a couple of years. So I think it gives you that extra, longing feeling to come back.”
Earps is back in Nottingham to open the pitch, which is one of 35 that the Football Foundation is building as part of the Lionesses Futures Fund, a £30-million fund from the Government and Football Association that has been invested in grassroots girls’ football since Euro 2022.
This area is especially important to Nottingham-native Earps, as her grandmother lives nearby and most of her family were able to join her at the pitch opening on Tuesday night.
“I’ve said for a while, especially since I’ve retired internationally, that I’ve wanted to do more stuff in Nottingham, because I feel like a lot is obviously in London and Manchester-way, which has been great, but I want to come back and really impact the local community.”
It not only feels like a welcome home for Earps since she retired, but a reemergence since she released her autobiography All In at the end of last year.
In her book, the former England goalkeeper spoke about her whole playing journey, but specific chapters about the end of her international career and her falling out with head coach Sarina Wiegman put her under the spotlight.
Earps was very critical of Wiegman and her decision to promote Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton to the number one spot in 2025, just before the Euros.
Hampton was briefly dropped by Wiegman in 2022 before returning to the squad a year later. In her book, Earps referred to “bad behaviour” from Hampton being rewarded when she was invited back into the squad.
The book’s release and its press tour were widely criticised, and outside of posting with her teammates on TikTok, Earps took a step back from public appearances.
“I think I look back now and it feels like a completely different time,” says Earps. “I took a lot of time after the book to sort of reflect and think and look inwards and have some difficult conversations with people around me to kind of figure out, ‘okay, how did we get here, what’s happening, and why is it happening?’”
“I look back now, and I get it. I think the timing wasn’t great, and of course, it was a difficult time. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me about it; it was a position that I put myself in, and I take full responsibility for it.
“It was a really emotional time, and I’m looking forward to what’s next. And to come into things like this today, I think it makes you realise what’s important to you when things like that happen. How can I learn from that? How can I grow from that? And prioritise what more can I do for the women’s game? What more can I do in the community? And how can I help women’s football stay on this crazy train that it’s on?”
Cutting through the nervous buzzwords that Earps mentions, as she knows she has to dive into a topic that is going to be uncomfortable, it’s clear that she has felt the damage that a revealing book can do. Especially when it was released just months after her retirement, when all the other individuals in the book are still playing out their careers. The furore that the book caused is a clear lesson in what not to do, from agents to ghostwriters to editors and publicists. There’s Earps’ accountability and there’s a team around her that misstepped along the way.
Was there anything that Earps wished she had done differently?
“I’ve thought about it a lot, for sure. I think timing is definitely one of the big things that I took from it. I think it’s not necessarily about sharing my experience as a whole; it was more the way certain things were expressed and how I could have handled certain things better around the book as a whole.”
And when it comes to stepping away from England in May, just before the Euros? That one is unsurprisingly “complicated” for Earps. But she says, “The girls went on and won the tournament, and for me, that’s the most important thing.”
Earps has been in contact with Wiegman since the book’s release and the goalkeeper had a “really positive conversation” with her former coach. “I’m really grateful that we had the opportunity to meet up and have that conversation face to face, and I’m grateful to Sarina for doing that.”
Earps is hopeful that in time she’ll be able to reconnect properly with the England set-up she was once front and centre of.
“I took some time out. I think it was needed, and I think I’m better off for it. But I think ultimately, I do take my responsibility as a role model really seriously. I think being a role model, it’s okay to sit there and be like, ‘Okay, I’m not perfect. I could have done this better.’
“And I think being honest about that, being accountable for that, taking responsibility, I think it’s okay to show that to young people as well. Of course, it’s not an easy thing to do. November and December were tough. I felt like that was my first rodeo with cancel culture, and I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone.
“But being authentic is everything that I’ve ever been, and so in this space now, being authentic of how I navigate that, and how I’ve navigated that, is also important to me, not just dancing on the table when it’s all trophies, you know?
“I think I’m going to take it step by step. I’m still reflecting, I’m still processing everything. I’m still working on myself.”
In all of Earps’ reflections, she’s also excited about what the future might hold for her when she finishes playing domestic football. She has no intention of stopping anytime soon, but she has her eyes on the business side of women’s sport, investing in clubs, supporting start-ups. Coaching is of less interest: “Managing personalities,” she jokes, but she wants to stay connected to the grassroots game.
In terms of her immediate future, she’s coy about whether a return to the WSL is on the cards. Her initial two-year contract with PSG will expire in June.
“I don’t know what the future is going to bring,” she says. “I’m not sure. I’ve loved Paris. I’m loving Paris. I think the city is amazing. I think it’s a fantastic club. The facilities are ridiculously good and I feel I’ve learned so much. But of course, you get to that point where you’re a little bit homesick, so I don’t know. I genuinely don’t know yet. I guess I’m going to wait until the summer and weigh up and go from there. I want to keep playing till the wheels fall off. So I want to keep this body going for as long as I can.”
The contents of the book were genuinely not that shocking in my opinion. Not when read as a whole.
The timing was and remains poor, but other than getting a couple of scores/timeline a bit wrong, the book was factual in her lived experience, and none of us have that perspective.
On the surface, the players that know her best still have a lot of time for her, but as I imagine a return to the UK is on the cards, she is going to have to go through the whole post book experience again as the media will no doubt bring it up for the first couple of months.
I still think she has done more positive than negative things for the game and she deserves to be able to play at a high level.
Thanks for bringing this article.
She might want to start with the word sorry