Baggaley a welcome addition to the Manchester United goalkeepers’ union says Earps

Manchester United’s Mary Earps says that Sophie Baggaley is a welcome addition to the club’s goalkeepers’ union this season.

The 24-year-old joined Manchester United in the summer after leaving Bristol City and she has provided The Red Devils’ first choice goalkeeper Earps with some strong competition for the jersey.

When commenting on the goalkeeping competition at Manchester United, Earps said that she is enjoying working with Baggaley and that the player is a welcome addition to the club’s goalkeepers’ union.

“Me and Baggers get on well;” Earps told FAWSL Full-Time. “She’s a relaxed personality to have around and I enjoy that. We can have good conversations about goalkeeping as well.

“We both just like knuckling down and working hard but also smiling and having a laugh while we are doing it.

“I think that we have been working really well so far. I am just trying to enjoy my football and I think that Baggers has come into that really nicely both in the team and the goalkeepers’ union.”

Earps was speaking about Baggaley in an England media session. The keeper has been recalled by the Lionesses ahead of this month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifying matches against North Macedonia and Luxembourg. It has been 22 months since Earps last pulled on the England jersey and she admitted that news of her call-up came as a bit of a surprise.

She said “It was a bit mad really, I had come back from training and I was probably preparing my dinner to be honest. I got this E-mail and I was probably thinking about what I was doing in the evening, probably going to get some curtain poles from John Lewis or something like that.

“I got this E-mail and I was just like….oh okay. I rang my mam and dad straight away and they were obviously delighted and my dad just told me a couple of things that I could have done better at the weekend in the game before.

“They were obviously really happy for me, they know the challenges that I have faced and they have been through everything with me. They were just really happy for me and told me to go and enjoy myself and that is hopefully what I am going to do.”

England’s opening FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifier against North Macedonia at St Mary’s Stadium kicks-off at 7pm on Friday evening.