This is the last thing England need. Just six weeks out from the start of Euro 2025, the Lionesses have lost one of their most influential players, both on and off the pitch, as Mary Earps announced her decision to retire on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper leaves an incredible legacy in the No. 1 jersey -- she has been a trailblazer for young girls and boys, and helped England to make history by winning the last Euros in 2022 -- but the timing of her announcement is awful and suggests all is not well behind the scenes with the national team. Sources have told ESPN that Earps had reservations about heading to Euro 2025 as England's backup goalkeeper behind Hannah Hampton.
Indeed, England boss Sarina Wiegman said she is "disappointed" by the news, as she broke it to her team on Monday afternoon. A tearful Earps then came into camp in the evening and explained her decision to the players. The general reaction from her former teammates was of shock and bemusement.
For so long Earps' story was an inspirational one. While she was playing her club football at Manchester United, she was in the international wilderness from 2019 to 2021 and contemplated retirement. She thought her England career was over before it had really begun. But then came Wiegman, who saw Earps' leadership as the base of England's spine.
From there, the goalkeeper flourished. She was England's No. 1 throughout the Euros, and suddenly, young fans across the country wanted to be just like her -- just as much as they wanted to be striker Alessia Russo, or defender Leah Williamson. She won The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper award in 2022 and 2023, alongside a host of other individual honours. "Without rain you don't get rainbows," she said at the time. "I like to see it as the beauty of where I've been to where I am now and appreciate it that little bit more."
By 2023, as England headed to Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup, Earps was still No. 1 and she helped her side reach the final, saving a penalty as England just fell short to Spain. But her impact on the pitch was matched by her actions off it, as she called out sportswear brand Nike for not making her goalkeeper shirt available for sale.
It was a bold, brave call from Earps to call out England's kit sponsors, and would have created an almighty fuss behind the scenes. Nike eventually answered Earps' plea months after the tournament, and the shirts sold out in minutes.
But after winning the club's first-ever FA Cup, Earps left Manchester United at the end of the 2023-24 season, signing for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. In Paris, she had time to regroup away from the spotlight, yet missed out on Champions League football last season and faced pressure as the starting goalkeeper in her new side.
Meanwhile, Chelsea's Hampton was starting to push Earps for the No.1 spot for her country too. Indeed, since the World Cup, Wiegman alternated between Hampton and Earps in goal, but when England faced the bigger occasions, the coach sided with Hampton more often than not.
All the while, Earps was as popular as ever: a walk down Wembley Way before the match against the United States in late November saw plenty of Christmas jumpers and scarves featuring her, while during the game there was that ear-splitting chant of "Mary, Mary, Mary" whenever she touched the ball. But she no longer had a monopoly on the jersey.
Things came to a head in the past couple of days. Earps has been far more visible over the past month or so, popping up at various sports events, wearing a "Women supporting Women" t-shirt and greeting her fans. But then came the shock announcement.
Take a look at Mary Earps' incredible journey as a Lioness after announcing her international retirement.
"This is a new era, and a new England team, and I'm looking forward to watching them this summer," she wrote on Instagram. "In the end, all you have is all you are -- your character. And I know that whilst this won't make sense to some who are reading this, you can trust that I would not be doing this unless I thought it was absolutely the right thing to do, as much as it hurts."
The need to preserve her character won out -- as her clothing range says: "Be Unapologetically Yourself." Her reservations over playing time may have driven the decision, but it leaves England in a hole. If Hampton gets injured in the build-up to Euro 2025, then their next two goalkeepers, Khiara Keating and Anna Moorhouse, have no caps between them. In one of the most important positions, they now have a massive void in experience.
In previous tournaments, players like Jordan Nobbs (2023 World Cup), Beth England and Jess Carter (Euro 2022) were peripheral figures but remained integral to the whole campaign, giving everything in training and helping with morale. But Earps put herself first. And, as her teammates defend their crown this summer, she'll be watching on from home.
England's form since the World Cup has been far from that which saw them storm to European glory three years ago, but there's always been a hope that, when the pressure told, the team would rise to the occasion. No one does that better than Earps, and she will surely be missed.