After years of working with some of the best players in the world, it’s fair to say Emma Hayes is a good judge of character.
So when she was asked about Hannah Hampton’s performance in Chelsea‘s victory over Arsenal, her response was telling.
‘I say this as the future USA coach: England are so lucky. She could have had the pick of many clubs but she trusted me in the vision I had for her.
‘I remember watching her play maybe four years ago when she was at Birmingham and I said “she is going to be a top, top goalkeeper” and I genuinely believe Hannah has all the ability to become the best in the world.’
Hampton signed for Chelsea on a free transfer last summer but did not make her Women’s Super League debut until November. The competition is strong. Hampton is one of three quality goalkeepers. Ann-Katrin Berger has been Chelsea’s No 1 for the last four years while Zecira Musovic enjoyed a fantastic World Cup with Sweden.
After years of working with some of the best players in the world, it’s fair to say Emma Hayes (pictured on the right) is a good judge of character
So when she was asked about Hannah Hampton’s performance in Chelsea ‘s victory over Arsenal, her response was telling
Hampton is considered the No 2 to Mary Earps for England but has just three caps. Part of this is because Earps and Ellie Roebuck had been the top two choices since Sarina Wiegman came in – Roebuck has now moved down the pecking order after falling out of favour at Manchester City – but part of it is also because Hampton spent over six months out of the England set-up over allegations of a poor attitude.
Wiegman did not speak about it publicly, only stating that Hampton had ‘personal matters’ to resolve. Hampton was playing for Aston Villa at the time and news of attitude issues arose after her manager Carla Ward said she had been left out of the squad to face Chelsea in the ‘best interests of the team’.
It is easy for one story to define a player’s career. Once accusations of a negative attitude arise, they are hard to shake off.
But there is more to Hampton and her journey. She was born with strabismus, a condition where the eyes point in different directions. She needed three operations as a toddler, none of which fully corrected the problems.
At the age of 12 she was also diagnosed with depth perception issues, which means she struggles to judge how far away an object is and finds it difficult to pour…