Earps: I feel at the top of the mountain
Manchester United Women goalkeeper Mary Earps says she is focused on continuing to work for future success on the pitch, following an incredible year in her life.
Earps celebrates her 31st birthday today (Thursday) and has enjoyed quite the journey over the last 12 months, as a result of her performances for United and England.
Just over a year ago, Mary won The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper award and how things have unfolded since has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Our no.27 received the Golden Glove prizes in the Women’s Super League and World Cup following her contributions for club and country and was later named England Women’s Player of the Year for 2022/23.
The Euro 2022 winner accumulated recognition on a regional, national and global scale within football, as well as prestigious honours from outside of the game. Earps was awarded an MBE for her services to the sport in the New Year Honours List, just less than a fortnight after being voted as BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.
All of that and more came before Mary retained The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper prize in January, completing the circle of a glittering chapter for the Reds star, who recently joined us in the TeamViewer Diaries room to look back on it all.
“I feel like they’re [the awards] all special in different ways,” Mary begins, in a new instalment of our catch-up interview series, which you can watch soon. “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.”
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The Nottingham-born keeper’s determined mindset shines through, as does her hunger for future accomplishments.
Despite a storybook year or so, Mary’s focus is on what is ahead, as she continues to work at being the best player and team-mate she can be.
“I’m always looking at what I want to achieve next, always looking at how I can improve, how I can develop,” the Reds goalkeeper adds.
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“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.”