Leah Williamson says she is “devastated” by Mary Earps’s immediate retirement from international football while the England head coach, Sarina Wiegman, described the news as emotional but refused to be drawn on what conversations she had with the goalkeeper before the decision was made.
The Euro 2022 winner shocked women’s football on Tuesday with her announcement and reports on the reasons behind her decision have differed; some have accused Earps of quitting after allegedly being told she had been dropped while the Guardian understands Earps had weighed up the move for more than a year.
“Of course I had a couple of conversations which I don’t want to share here because that’s between us,” Wiegman said. “I find it [this news] hard and it’s hard for her at the same time. She has done such a great job for England. We’ve had an incredible journey. I really cherish that.
“It’s emotional because we also have a relationship and we’ve had such a massive journey together with lots of highs and of course some lows too. But we have to move on and we don’t have time now to celebrate because we have a game tomorrow.”
When asked if she tried to convince Earps to stay, Wiegman said: “She knows I want her in the team, so of course, we talked about that.” Then asked specifically to clarify reports that Earps had told her she wanted to retire in April and Wiegman had asked her to reconsider, the Dutchwoman replied: “As I said, we are in conversations all the time – I don’t give any information about these private conversations we have.”
The England captain Williamson, reacting publicly to Earps’s announcement for the first time, said: “She’s one of my closest friends in football in terms of what we’ve been through together, the journey that we’ve been on so I’m devastated just because I love her, I love being her teammate.
“I think the way that she wears the England shirt is an example to us all so I’m very sad, but for her, she thinks this is the best thing and I’ll support her in that always. I know playing for a country meant everything to her. So for her to come to that decision, I will always respect that first, and I care about Mary as a human first before a footballer. But of course, we’re a team and we want to win, and Mary in that team gives us a better chance of winning. I know that to be true.”
Earps and the Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton had been battling for England’s No 1 jersey this season and Wiegman added: “Hannah Hampton is now the No 1. I said before [in a press conference in April] that she is ‘a little bit ahead’. But you can’t look too far forward because things in football change very quickly.”
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England are also currently without the Chelsea centre-back Millie Bright, who told her ‘Daly Brightness’ podcast on Tuesday that she had chosen to miss England’s upcoming Women’s Nations League games against Portugal and Spain to look after her mental health as well as her body. Williamson labelled Bright as “brave” for opening up and encouraging others to do so and Wiegman said: “Of course she has to take care of herself, we’ll stay in contact and I hope she feels better soon. I hope that she takes the time that will help her to get settled again in time for the Euros.”
Asked if England are doing enough to support players’ mental health, Wiegman replied: “We absolutely try our very, very best. Yes I think so, I hope so, I hope players experience it that way too. Of course, in our journey so far, things have changed massively but it also comes with higher demands and we have to adapt to that and that’s not always easy.”
Wiegman also revealed that the Arsenal striker Alessia Russo and the Manchester United midfielder Ella Toone will both miss Friday’s game against Portugal at Wembley with calf problems, but hopes they can face Spain on Tuesday. It was also confirmed that Millie Turner (foot) is out of contention for July’s Euros while Wiegman labelled Wednesday’s news of the Tottenham Hotspur defender Ella Morris’ ACL injury as “awful and devastating”.
However, there was more encouraging news for England about Lauren James’ fitness. Wiegman said the Chelsea forward was “doing really well” with her recovery and added: “We want to get her back for the Euros and she wants that too. So far she has ticked the boxes that she needs to tick – we just hope she keeps moving forward so that she can join the team later on.”
