SEASON digital cover: Mary Earps on her Renaissance, making goalkeeping cool, and World Cup progress

Words, Creative Direction, and Production Felicia Pennant

Mary wears a Christopher Kane dress and adidas x Paolina Russo gloves.

Mary Earps (affectionately Mearps) is unapologetically herself. Unfazed by back-to-back shoots at a Manchester studio the day before she heads on holiday, with England Women’s World Cup 2023 squad announcement due at lunchtime, the charismatic goalkeeper greets the team warmly and pokes fun getting into model mode. A rapid ‘Mary’s into Aaliyah and old school R’n’B’, decides the playlist and the 30-year-old’s Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper 2022 award glistens on camera after our looks blow up her usual aesthetic. Beyoncé currently has the nation in a chokehold because her FOMO-inducing Renaissance tour has landed in London, so has Mearps – like some of the luckiest and smuggest fans – seen the viral silver-tinted show live? ‘Yes,’ she confirms, adding that it was a good show but expensive. She’d be most starstruck meeting Adele.

‘Renaissance’ also aptly describes this silverware-laden phase of Mearps’ own career. Cutting her teeth at Nottingham Forest, Bristol Academy, Birmingham City, Doncaster Belles, Reading, and VfL Wolfsburg before signing for Manchester United Women in 2019, the Northerners narrowly finished second in the 2022/23 Women’s Super League but qualified for the Women’s Champions League for the first time. They also lost the 2022/23 Women’s FA Cup final against Chelsea. ‘It's quite unusual in sport that the majority of the team played their best season this year. Everyone gave absolutely everything and we can be really proud of what we achieved,’ she concludes. Becoming the first league goalkeeper to reach 50 clean sheets and 150 starts, Mearps also clinched the Golden Glove with a record 14 clean sheets. Does she agree with my observation? ‘I would quite happily be associated with Beyoncé’s two billion pound revenue tour, [but] I’d describe it as a life's work. I hope to win more trophies and have more success for many more years but you don't know where the wind is gonna blow you.’

As Mearps refreshingly recalls, the newly appointed England Women manager Sarina Weigman brought her back from the brink of retirement in 2021. The Nottingham-born goalkeeper grabbed the unexpected opportunity with both gloves, reigniting her international career which keeps her sensible Information Management and Business Studies degree from Loughborough on the back burner. She went from being third-choice keeper to England’s undisputed number one in less than 20 months just as women’s football really caught fire: the game now attracts record-breaking viewership and match day attendances around the world. At Women’s Euro 2022, Mearps only conceded twice as the Lionesses made history by winning the tournament. She produced a stunning fingertip save in the 4-2 penalty shootout win against Brazil in the Women’s Finalissima 2023. Unbeknownst to us, the 30-year-old was ‘proud as punch’ to get her World Cup 2023 call-up while doing her hair and make-up on our shoot and texted her mum immediately.

More of an accession than a surprise, due to captain Leah Williamson’s devastating ACL injury, Mearps didn’t find out that she was vice-captain until we did. ‘Sarina told the media and never told me so we’re yet to have a conversation about it,’ the goalkeeper admits when we regroup over Zoom a few weeks later before she reports to camp. ‘She set out her plan before Christmas. Who is going to help Millie in the vice-captaincy role? She asked me and it’s almost like a third captain. I'm just there in the background if they need support but they don't. They're both fantastic leaders.’ So is Mearps objectively. Her larger-than-life-personality and heroic saves drive United and England forward from the back – never forget how she thwarted Germany’s attempts to equalise at Wembley – and I’ve often admired her incredible reflexes, even more so after witnessing her train at St George’s Park. ‘I was a big communicator from a young age but it’s been highlighted since Covid as one of my biggest strengths. My theory is that because there were no crowds there, you could hear me.’

It’s Mearps’ mentality that has evolved, not the resilience or strong desire to win that she’s always had. Goalkeepers dive from hero to zero relentlessly so the World’s Best Goalkeeper values acknowledgement. ‘It feels really nice to be recognised as someone who's good at what they do [when] I was heavily criticised. I played for different teams growing up because I never wanted to sit on the bench, even if I was conceding goals,’ she shares. ‘The clean sheet record is great but it’s not something that has ever motivated me. Doncaster was a great learning opportunity and every team that I've played for has taught me something and brought me to where I am.’ Mearps looks up to trailblazing sportswomen who have transcended their field and she is already emulating them. ‘From a goalkeeping perspective, Hope Solo always stood out and Serena Williams has been a monster for years and won all the titles.’ The UK government’s reply to the legacy-building open letter that the victorious Lionesses wrote last summer was a public commitment to make football accessible for girls and boys on International Women’s Day 2023.

There are barriers beyond gender and pay disparity in football that Mearps is fearlessly breaking down. ‘Goalkeepers are never on billboards or covers. They don't do anything exciting, they're not marketable, and goalkeeping doesn't sell. I want people to think goalkeeping is so cool,’ she says passionately. ‘It's 100 per cent an under-appreciated position. I want to be a beacon of light to young goalkeepers who can see what can be achieved if they put their minds to it.’ The memory of my own horror show between the sticks as a tall teenager with a large arm span, where my endless respect for goalkeepers jumping towards heavy balls flying towards them at speed instead of out of the way instinctively is deeply rooted, sparks this mini-speech. The 30-year-old appreciates me sharing it but SEASON zine’s first digital cover star also has receipts – her United shirt sold out last season and she’s in the top three goalkeeper shirt sales – plus a number of other honest interviews and charming photoshoots this year to shatter ‘such a, without swearing, false narrative.’

In February 2023, Mearps’ heartfelt speech to accept her Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper 2022 award flipped the script. Speaking up about how football’s harsh realities had floored her, she thanked the loved ones who picked her up and the coaches and teammates who helped her rise from dust to glory. The goalkeeper’s humility and confidence resonate hardest here:

“Sometimes success looks like this, collecting trophies, sometimes it’s just waking up and putting one step in front of the other. There’s only one of you in the world, and that’s more than good enough. Be unapologetically yourself.”

— Mary Earps

That final sentence never gets old and doesn’t feel tired or cliché because the goalkeeper practices what she preaches. ‘It's clear to me that my purpose here is to contribute to a world where people feel comfortable being honest about their struggles. Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows,’ she adds. Mearps’ new clothing brand MAE27 launched with two gender-neutral ‘Be unapologetically yourself’ t-shirts just after our interview and there are more projects in the pipeline.

Anecdotally, Mearps’ efforts are working. One male football fan told me how powerful it was to hear the goalkeeper talk about her mental health earlier this year completely unprompted. The 30-year-old’s fan mail has skyrocketed off the back of that speech because she believes it made people feel normal and seen, and the stories sent to her give her real-life inspiration. ‘You get lost in this warped reality in football where you're constantly chasing more and there's always somebody better, younger, quicker, faster, fitter. You can never be complacent and that’s true in other areas of life,’ the goalkeeper muses. She gets so many letters that she has a couple of people help her respond, sometimes with signed photos and little notes. Mearps is also currently reading Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Leaders Eat Last, and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. ‘I’m trying to educate myself on things that maybe I don't fully understand and hopefully, that gives me a better perspective on the world and more empathy for people.’

If there is ever an award or yearbook entry for the most relatable Lioness, Mearps – crowned TikTok Queen and a figurehead to karaoke-loving huns everywhere – should probably get it at this point. The way she gatecrashed Weigman’s press conference post-Euro 2022 win to dance on the table and serenade the room with the football anthem ‘Three Lioness’ was legendary. Expectations are high for the hilarious TikToks that the goalkeeper posts alone or synchronises with teammates – her followers were up in arms when she didn’t post for 27 days last season. ‘I just do what comes naturally, some behind-the-scenes stuff or little challenges, like when Alessia [Russo] was convinced that she could sing the song with water in her mouth. That stuff is so funny to me,’ she smiles. We’ll release the fun social media videos we made with her shortly. Mearps proudly posted her refurbished garden on Instagram recently which was a departure from her self-imposed social media policy to keep content career driven and not show where she lives. ‘[If] you operate in the public eye, your life is up for debate in a certain way. I want to keep people happy, of course, but there are times in my life when social media just isn't a priority. I’m quite a private person and it’s a balance.’

On set for her SEASON zine digital cover shoot, Mearps underpromises and over-delivers. ‘I'm not super photogenic. People have to work magic behind the scenes,’ she laughs afterwards. ‘Leah's had success in fashion and Alessia is going down that route as well.’ Even though she wore a glam gold dress for her unforgettable speech, we establish that the goalkeeper isn’t into sequins and the black and white look is giving Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) with those long gloves. ‘I really like the body con fitted dress. It feels feminine to me because I spend most of my life in training kit and we all love to get dolled up to the nines every now and then.’ Pivoting effortlessly from 1960s glamour to a refined sense of Jamaican cool, Mearps wears a brown and beige adidas Originals x Wales Bonner outfit that SEASON zine got to photograph exclusively. ‘I don't know whether I would have picked it off the shelf myself but I really liked wearing it, especially the material.’

What’s next for Mearps is surely the biggest World Cup women’s football has ever seen in Australia and New Zealand. Ticket sales to watch the 32 national teams fearlessly compete for immortality and a nearly quadrupled prize money fund have surpassed a million. As European champions, the Lionesses are among the favourites so what can this tournament really change? ‘The Euros changed the landscape completely. Doors that were bolted shut are now ajar and more opportunities are available to us,’ she replies. ‘Hopefully, it will take the game to new levels and we can keep pushing for increased visibility and equal access.’ How the goalkeeper and her contemporaries can capitalise and maximise impact is simple. ‘When you have a pedigree of winning, female footballers have an active voice and people are more willing to listen. I know you can't win every trophy all the time but we can try to.’

Mary wears an adidas Originals x Wales Bonner sweatshirt and joggers with adidas trainers.

Creative credits
Stylist Rickardo Mattocks-Maxwell
Director Lydia Garnett
Video Editor Victoria Mann
Design Justin Moore and Maria Maleh at Studio Palmetto
Stylist assistant Jake Leong