Hannah Hampton Voted BBC Women's Footballer of the Year
Image credit: Katie Chan via Wikimedia Commons
Following a breakout season at Chelsea, and a rise to major international stardom as England’s shot stopping superstar at this summer's Euros, Hampton has added yet another major accolade to her name. She joins the likes of Asisant Oshoala, Kim Little and Lioness counterpart, Lucy Bronze, as the 11th winner of the BBC women's footballer of the year.
It’s been a season of transition for Hampton, becoming Chelsea's surefire starting goalkeeper with 34 appearances in the 2024/2025 season, compared to 18 in the previous campaign, winning the WSL golden boot with 13 clean sheets in the process. Never quite first pick in an England shirt, it was only the pre-Euros camp in April that cemented her as number one between the sticks, after manager Wiegman stated that she was ‘a bit ahead’ of goalkeeper Mary Earps. With her predecessor's subsequent international retirement, Hampton was thrown in at the deep end. Earp’s departure threw Hampton’s readiness into question, as she had never started in a major international competition, however these fears were quickly dispelled. She made 18 saves in the turbulent tournament for the Lionesses, including two penalties in the quarter final. She saved penalties from Bonmati and Caldentey in the final shootout against Spain to make England Champions of Europe once more.
Catapulting her to fame as a national hero after already being seen as Chelsea’s saviour by fans, Hampton has dealt with her fair share of difficulties in her career. Being diagnosed with the eye condition strabismus (a squint which means her eyes don't properly align) as a child and being told her football dreams would be in question, she has already defied the odds. With an article released in 2022 calling her behaviour into question and the most recent comments from Mary Earps’ autobiography about their tense relationship throwing social media into storm, the unwavering support for Hampton from fans voting her for this award demonstrates how highly her shot-stopping heroics are regarded. Former teammate Ellen White praised Hannah for her perseverance “letting her football do the talking” which indeed she has done in abundance.
Beating the likes of fan favorites Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo to this major accolade, Hannah Hampton has proven that her star can only get brighter as her number one spot for Chelsea and England seems firmly cemented in the mind of fans and her teammates, for a long time to come.