Mary Earps’ long road from Phil Neville reject to world’s best No 1

B efore Mary Earps and her Manchester United teammates played at Old Trafford for the first time, the goalkeeper embarked on a vital reconnaissance mission. “I like to know where I’m going to park on match day so I need to drive the route and then work out the way I’m going to walk into the ground after leaving my car,” she explained before that landmark game two years ago.

“I’m the type of person who prepares everything in advance. Maybe other people would use the term ‘control freak’ but it’s just so I don’t waste any mental energy and can focus purely on football.”

That was when Earps believed her England career to be all but over and her thoughts were drifting to a life beyond football. Almost 24 months on, though, things could not be more different for a woman who turns 30 on Tuesday.

Last Monday night Earps was named women’s goalkeeper of the year at the 2022 Fifa Best Awards in Paris. That prize represented richly merited recognition for her key role in England’s Euro 2022 triumph. Earps started all the Lionesses’ six games, keeping four clean sheets and conceding only two goals along the road to England beating Germany in last July’s Wembley final. “Thank you to my loved ones who picked me off the kitchen floor a few years ago,” said Earps after clambering on to the stage. “This is for anyone who has been in a dark place. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

For a keeper who has played an integral part in Manchester United’s rise to the top of the WSL this season that light manifested itself in September 2021. She was about to set off to shop for curtain poles when England’s then newly installed manager, Sarina Wiegman, telephoned, offering an unexpected call up.

It signalled the end of a period in which