England goalkeeper Mary Earps faced backlash this week over negative comments made about former teammates. In response, two time Euro-winning defender Lucy Bronze says that male footballers would not be subject to such forensic scrutiny as women
Lioness Lucy Bronze has defended ex-England goalie Mary Earps over criticism she has received for making negative comments about former teammates in her explosive new book.
Paris Saint-German goalie Earps spoke out about goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and team coach Sarina Wiegman in her autobiography All In, saying Wiegman was rewarding “bad behaviour” by reintegrating Hampton into the Lionesses squad in 2023. .
But right-back Bronze, 34, says male footballers would not be subject to such forensic scrutiny, telling The Mirror: “Female players are constantly under a magnifying glass. In a football team you have a group of 20-30 players – there’s no way everyone will think the same things. There are different personalities – and there is high pressure.
READ MORE: Hannah Hampton’s captain refuses to defend her as Lionesses pressed on Mary Earps ‘gossip’
“Men are solely judged on their ability and their lifestyle to a certain extent, but only if it’s a huge headline. Generally, for most of the popular female footballers, there’s a constant lens on what we’re doing – on and off the pitch.”
Manchester-based Lucy, who plays for Chelsea and England, won the UEFA Women’s Champions League five times – three times with Lyon and twice with Barcelona. She is rumoured to be dating Ona Batlle, the Spanish full-back.
Open about her 2021 diagnosis of ADHD and autism, she says of growing up: “I struggled to make friends. I was hyperfocused as a child and I always felt different to others.
“There were parts of my younger life where I was teased and bullied at school, for being a tomboy too. It was hard.
“Sport was my way of connecting with people when I couldn’t otherwise. That environment gave me somewhere I could be competitive and be obsessed with something. It gave me a safe space.”
Showing true grit, Bronze – who has twice been in the Euro-winning side – played the entire 2025 tournament with a fractured tibia.
She says: “It’s the first time maybe anyone has been able to prove that they’ll actually do anything to play for England. People may say that ‘they’d play with a broken leg’, but I’ve actually done it.”
She has her childhood to thank for her staying power.
“My first home was a one bed, a little flat above a corner shop: mum, dad, my brother and me. We never had a lot of money, we made the most of what we’d got,” she says.
This week Bronze made history by being named in the Fifpro Women’s World XI – a global football award decided entirely by professional players – for a record eighth time.
But she still has one major ambition, adding: “Winning the World Cup has been at the top of my bucket list ever since I put on an England shirt. I’ve managed to do everything else apart from that.
“Before we won the Euros, I said I’d trade every single trophy I’d won in my life to win one thing for England. Obviously, we’ve won two Euros now… well I’d trade those two Euros for a World Cup.
“The men’s England shirt has a star above it because of 1966, when the men won. In 2019 we had our own women’s shirt designed for the first time, and the star went missing – I want that star back.”
*Lucy Bronze has partnered with Barclays LifeSkills and National Numeracy to support Number Confidence Week
READ MORE: Chloe Kelly wows in see-through dress as fellow Lioness stars go to war over book
Source: Mirror
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