Mary Earps

Grassroots club: West Bridgford Colts
County: Nottinghamshire FA

One of the stars of UEFA EURO 2022, Mary's performances for England as they went on to become European Champions will live long in the memory as well as completing a remarkable journey for the affable goalkeeper.

The two-time FIFA Best and Golden Glove winner had to wait patiently for her senior team bow, which came in Switzerland in June 2017. After that, Earps became a regular fixture in the Lionesses squad and was named in a major tournament squad for the second time in a row when she went to the FIFA Women's World Cup in France 2019.

After competing for the No1 spot with the more experienced duo of Karen Bardsley and Carly Telford, as well as youngster Ellie Roebuck, she started three matches of Phil Neville’s tenure, against Kazakhstan, Australia and Austria to stake her claim.

She then started the game against Germany in November 2019 in front of 77,768 fans at Wembley Stadium connected by EE, but would then have to wait almost two years for another cap.

In early 2021, she even considered her future in the sport, with her Manchester United contract coming towards an end, an England return seeming unlikely, and having several interests away from football, with a degree in information management and business studies from Loughborough University to her name.

However, a contract extension at United was signed and the arrival of Sarina Wiegman as England’s head coach reignited her international career.

Earps would go on to start the first seven of Wiegman’s games in charge and became an established member of the squad heading towards EURO 2022. 

She then started all six games at the EUROs and proved to be a real fans' favourite, making a number of key saves throughout the campaign.