England and Manchester United goalkeeper and winner of this year’s Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Mary Earps has been named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2023.
The annual award from the BBC World Service is voted for by football fans from around the world.
On winning the award, Earps said: “I am truly honoured to be BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year. Thank you so much for voting for me. To be the first goalkeeper to get their hands on the award is incredibly special and I am incredibly grateful. Hopefully, one of many more to come and thank you so much again.”
Reflecting on her career so far, Earps told the BBC: “I try to use my story as a beacon of hope for people. To show that there are better days coming. You just have to keep going and keep fighting; that looks very different to different people. I think there was a time, when no one was watching what I was doing. To work hard in silence, on your own, nobody notices what you do. It doesn’t matter what you do, apart from to yourself and your own standards. I think that is a big part of where I am today, and sort of the resilience that I’ve shown and I know there are going to be many more moments where I’m going to need that resilience.”
Earps was voted winner of this year’s award from a shortlist of some of the biggest names in women’s football, including Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati, who came second; Australia and Chelsea striker Sam Kerr, who placed third; and nominees Fridolina Rolfö who represents Barcelona and Sweden and Alexandra Popp, who plays for Germany and VfL Wolfsburg.
On Earps winning the award, Katie Zelem, Manchester United club captain, said: “It’s amazing. We know Mary’s qualities, we’ve seen them at England, at Manchester United. She’s kept us in many games.
“Mary brings a lot of character to the group, whether that’s in the team or outside. I think what she has done for goalkeeping has been outstanding. There is obviously a gap in the market and Mary really wants to push goalkeeping and we’re all so behind her for that.”
The BBC surprised Earps at Carrington, Manchester United’s training ground, where she was presented with the award by the club captain, Katie Zelem, and the BBC’s Maz Farookhi. Maz also shared some video messages with Mary congratulating her on the win, from Sarina Wiegman, coach of the England women’s team; Fara Williams, England’s most capped player and Mary’s former teammate; and Peter Schmeichel, former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper.
