With Mary Earps hot favourite for 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, here are three reasons why she would deserve the accolade.
From two titles to personal success for club and country and a successful campaign against Nike, Earps has enjoyed a memorable 2023 which now sees her considered hot favourite for 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday 19 December.
Earps however will face competition from Alfie Hewett, Frankie Dettori, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Rory McIlroy and Stuart Broad for the honour, exclusively voted for by British viewers.
Some critical fans however would rather see Earps miss out on the top accolade to suit their own agenda – i.e. England failed to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup and etc., so here are three reasons why Earps deserves to be firm favourite for the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Arnold Clark Cup and Women’s Finalissima Champions
Whilst it is easy for some to dismiss Earps as not a title winner in 2023 based on the fact that she fell short with England in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, she nevertheless helped the Lionesses to two titles within the first four months of the year which can’t be ignored.
Earps first was part of England’s successful squad in which they defended their Arnold Clark Cup title in February – during which she started against South Korea and Belgium as the Lionesses went unbeaten in the invitational competition.
She went on to save two penalties from Brazil in a tense win in the Women’s Finalissima at Wembley Stadium in April, underlining her success early on this year even though her crucial penalty save in the World Cup Final wasn’t enough to deny Spain victory.
Earps also enjoyed success at club level as she led Manchester United to their best-ever finishes in the Women’s Super League and Women’s FA Cup, as the Red Devils finished runners-up to Chelsea in both competitions.
The 30 year-old has also enjoyed personal success in terms of achievement beyond just two titles for England, underlining why she isn’t nicknamed ‘Queen of Stops’ for no reason.
Double Golden Glove Winner
Although the World Cup, WSL and Women’s FA Cup titles fell just beyond Earps, she enjoyed personal success as she became the Golden Glove winner in both the Women’s World Cup and WSL.
Focusing upon her Golden Glove triumph in the WSL in further detail, Earps set a new record for most clean sheets in a single season with 14 clean sheets, during which she became the first WSL goalkeeper to achieve 50 clean sheets within the domestic competition.
Earps went on to keep three clean sheets at the Women’s World Cup this summer but her overall goalkeeping performance earned her the Golden Glove, having made a series of stunning saves throughout the tournament – especially in a tense Round of 16 win over Nigeria.
The 30 year-old also was just one of two goalkeepers alongside Australia’s Mackenzie Arnold to had played every minute of the tournament, in which she conceded just four goals – three from open play and one from the penalty spot.
Those two personal awards therefore highlight just how impressive Earps has been across the whole year in the major tournaments, whilst her raw emotions following England’s comeback Nations League home win over Netherlands after a mistake showed how much the game means to her.
Successful Campaign for Women’s Goalkeeping Shirt
Although BBC SPOTY is usually judged purely on success within the sporting context itself on the pitch, track and etc., Earps this year successfully campaigned for replica versions of her England goalkeeping shirt to be made available for sale to fans alongside the main England shirt.
The furore initially came after Nike decided to only make replica copies the main shirt worn by the outfield players available for public sale, only for the American manufacturer to do a u-turn after pleas from Earps alongside a fan petition.
Nike however only released two limited batches of the shirt with both sets of stock sold out within hours, whilst the most recent stock in England’s official store sold out in just five minutes underlining how massive an impact the nicknamed ‘Queen of Stops’ has had on and off pitch in 2023.
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