Mary Earps has grown accustomed to collecting major awards, with the Manchester United and England star revealing which mean the most to her.
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European champion is also a World Cup finalistWon BBC Sports Personality of the Year and an MBEBack-to-back FIFA Best prizes for Lionesses starWHAT HAPPENED?
Over the course of the last 12 months, the European Championship winner has gone back-to-back in The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper department, picked up Golden Gloves in the WSL and Women’s World Cup, been named BBC Sports Personality of the Year and collected an MBE for her services to sport.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT EARPS SAID
It has been quite the year for Earps, with the 31-year-old goalkeeper telling United’s : “I feel like they’re [the awards] all special in different ways. I think the last year has been insane in terms of the awards I’ve won, I could have never even imagined winning like a tenth of them. It’s just been ridiculous and I’m so grateful for all of them in different ways. I think winning Goalkeeper of the Year back-to-back was really special, being the first goalkeeper to do that. I think Sports Personality of the Year was really special as well. Those two are the ones that really stand out, but it’s crazy really because this time last year, the FIFA Best Goalkeeper of the Year, that was the first individual accolade that I ever won and then I could have never have imagined the 12 months after that. And then to pick it up again this year was just crazy really, so I’m incredibly grateful and I just want to keep pushing on.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Earps is determined to ensure that she remains on the trophy trail in 2024, adding on her ambition: “I’m always looking at what I want to achieve next, always looking at how I can improve, how I can develop. I guess people probably look at these achievements and probably think: ‘She must be all right now, she must just think it’s job done.’ And it’s really the opposite. When you get to the top of the mountain, it’s like you get this taste for something and nothing else really compares to it, and you just want to keep going and achieve even more. That’s kind of where I’m at. I feel like I’m just fighting to stay at the top and when you win these awards, I think then there’s people chasing you and trying to hunt you down, but I’m just concentrated on how I can push to the next level, how I can improve myself even more as a goalkeeper, how I can add even more value to the team and how we can achieve team goals, titles, trophies, cups, everything – I want the lot.”
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR EARPS?
There has been talk of Earps making a move away from Manchester, but she remains tied to United for now – as they remain in the hunt for FA Cup glory – and is also a key part of the England squad that is preparing to open the defence of their continental crown when Euro 2025 qualification gets underway in April.