As the nation gears up for the biggest night in sport, here’s a look at why Hannah Hampton deserves to be 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Hampton has enjoyed an exceptional 2025 with Chelsea and England which saw her collect four major titles with club and country respectively, whilst cementing herself as England’s new first-choice goalkeeper amidst pressure from critics.
She has also enjoyed immense successful sporting achievements off the pitch this year, so here are three reasons why Hampton deserves to be in contention for the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Fans can vote for the winner during the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony on Thursday 18 December between 7-9pm on BBC One in the UK.
Outstanding Year
2025 has proven to be an outstanding year for Hampton as she helped Chelsea to a domestic treble – Women’s Super League (WSL), Women’s League Cup and Women’s FA Cup, and was part of the Blues’ 34-match unbeaten WSL run which ended at home to Everton earlier this month.
Hampton also cemented herself as England’s first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Mary Earps who subsequently retired ahead of the Women’s Euro, where Hampton made numerous quality saves to keep England alive against Sweden in their eventual Quarter-Final comeback to win on penalties.
The 25-year-old shot-stopper also proved crucial for England as they came from behind to beat Italy in the semi-finals then against Spain in a nervy final, where she saved penalties from Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati to complete the Lionesses’ successful title defence.
Her performance in the final also saw her named ‘Player of the Match’, named in Team of the Tournament and collected her second Golden Glove award in the space of two months, having kept 13 clean sheets last season for Chelsea which earned her the WSL’s Golden Glove gong.
Hampton’s success also saw her become the first female goalkeeper to pick up the Yashin Trophy at the 2025 Ballon d’Or, whilst she was named BBC’s Women’s Footballer of the Year and 2024 FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper to cap a memorable year.
Overcame Adversity
Hampton was born with Strabismus, an eye condition which affected depth perception yet she managed to prove that the condition couldn’t stop her becoming a world-class goalkeeper.
Depth perception however is a huge visual skill that goalkeepers must have in order to excel in football, allowing them to judge with accuracy the distance, speed and trajectory of the ball in three-dimension spaces.
It is therefore no surprise that doctors advised her that her eye condition would prevent her becoming a professional player, yet she has proven medics wrong through hard graft, adaptive playing styles and manages the condition through contact lenses and cues.
A domestic treble with Chelsea and UEFA Women’s Euro therefore underlined just how exceptional 2025 has been for Hampton, who has proven that disability can’t stop people achieving their potential in the able-bodied version of football and is an inspiration in overcoming adversity.
As well as overcoming adversity, Hampton has also embraced adversity because she learned sign language when young to communicate with a deaf relative, which has allowed her to break down communication barriers with deaf supporters of Chelsea and England and make football more inclusive for all.
Exceptional Under Pressure
The big difference between outstanding goalkeepers and other players in their position is the ability perform under pressure and Hampton had to deal with pressure in many different ways.
Whilst she has been Chelsea’s undisputed number-one goalkeeper for their domestic treble, Hampton headed into the Women’s Euro with questions surrounding her ability to be the first-choice keeper in a major international tournament, following Earps’ retirement.
Instead she knuckled down and delivered a series of superb performances across the tournament, especially against Sweden where she denied Stina Blackstenius in the 55th minute, before she saved two penalties after saving Filippa Angeldahl’s extra-time effort.
Further pressure came in the final against Spain which marked Hampton’s first appearance in a major international final, yet she crucially denied Spain’s big-hitters Esther Gonzalez, Mariona Caldentey and Claudia Pina to force penalties, where she once again showed composure to make two saves.
You therefore can’t doubt how integral Hampton had been to England’s title defence amidst the pressure as England’s first-choice for the first time in a major tournament, especially with critics unfairly questioning her ability due to experience and her eye condition.
Hampton also had to deal with her personal grief following the death of her grandfather just two days before the tournament commenced, which showcased her maturity and ability to use that grief as motivation to achieve success with England in a tough tournament.
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