The day has finally come, a day in which Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman must choose her final 23-player squad for this summer’s UEFA Women’s EURO.
For youngsters like Aston Villa keeper Hannah Hampton who is yet to feature for England at a major tournament, a day like this is a completely new feeling and one in which her senior teammates will have certainly told her all about.
FAWSL Full-Time recently caught up with Hampton at an England media event to find out how the keeper is feeling ahead of head coach Wiegman’s final announcement.
“I’m actually feeling alright,” said Hampton confidently. “If you asked me a month or two months ago, I would’ve been bricking it, but as soon as you come into camp, you ease off the pressure and just enjoy your football.
“Having that time off at the end of the season, you do think about things, but as soon as you get back on the pitch, it’s back to your normal job and I’m just enjoying my football and seeing where it’s going to take me.”
With the goalkeeping spot being one of, if not the most competitive on the pitch, 21-year-old Hampton is surrounded by experienced shot-stoppers with Mary Earps, Ellie Roebuck and Sandy MacIver all sharing a handful of senior caps between them over the past few years.
Commenting on her goalkeeping rivals, Hampton said “I look up to most of these. There’s not really a massive age gap but they’ve experienced so many major tournaments before, and this will be my first one. I’ve looked up to them for a long time and to just train with them is insane, but it’s all healthy competition, we encourage each other, we’re there to help each other improve.
“Whatever the outcome (this afternoon), we’re there for each other and we’re sure that whoever it is that’s dropped, we will support them from afar.”
With Hampton potentially set to experience her first major tournament, hearing stories of how the perception of women’s football has changed from where it was just a few years ago is very important when realising the steps that have been taken to bring the game to its current heights.
Hampton touched on this and said “We had a lot of previous England players come a couple of camps ago. They told us about their stories and how they were involved in England and just football in general. That was really eye-opening for what they’ve achieved in their careers at that time and how it’s changed from what it was then to what it is now. It’s only thanks to all the players who we met that it’s like this for us now.
“We got given a book and I read the whole thing, it was called ‘The History of Women’s Football’. The first night, I read 50-odd pages and I just kept going, it was great. People like Carol Thomas, who was one of the former players who came to chat to us, changed the game for us.
“It’s been massive. Hearing stories of all the pioneers in the past and what they’ve managed to achieve for people like me and my generation it’s huge and I think the investments are only going to get bigger and bigger. It’s not my job, but it’s our generation’s job to keep that fight going and help in whatever way we can.”
Hampton’s former Aston Villa teammate Anita Asante is a perfect example of how far women’s footballers can go, winning 18
major trophies across all teams that she featured for in her incredible career that spanned two decades.
“Speaking to players in my club like Neets and hearing what she’s had to go through, what she’s done for us, we’re forever thankful to that generation,” Hampton added. “To be able to call football my job, it’s incredible.”
England’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 final squad announcement is scheduled to be made at 5pm.
By Megan Garbutt
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