Mary Earps and the Uncomfortable Truth: Recognition Delayed Is Recognition Denied
You don’t expect a global icon to have to fight for respect — but Mary Earps, somehow, still does. Fresh off a year that included a Golden Glove at the Women’s World Cup, a starring role in Manchester United’s best domestic season, and a wave of influence that lifted an entire generation of young goalkeepers, Earps was left off the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year shortlist.
No explanation. No logic. Just a stunning omission.
The backlash came fast — not just from fans, but fellow professionals, pundits, and even youth coaches who saw in Earps not just a great athlete, but a cultural catalyst. It’s not about one trophy. It’s about a pattern. A pattern of delayed recognition, subtle undervaluing, and the quiet sidelining of female excellence, even when it’s undeniable.
Stats, Silverware, and Still Ignored
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about sentiment. It’s about facts.
Earps kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the Women’s Super League last season.
She was named FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper — twice.
She captained England in multiple fixtures during 2023 with authority and calm.
Her penalty save in the World Cup final was one of the most iconic moments in modern women’s football.
Yet when the professional awards came, it was as if all of that happened in a vacuum — admired, but not awarded. Celebrated, but not credited.
What does it say when the best in the world isn’t even seen as the best in the room?
The Gendered Undercurrent in Sporting Recognition
There’s a broader unease here. Earps’ snub has unearthed an uncomfortable tension in the way women’s sport is still packaged, praised, and occasionally dismissed. It’s not just a football issue — it’s a sports culture issue.
In men’s football, consistent excellence is rewarded predictably. In women’s football, there’s still a sense that “popular narratives” or offensive stats take priority over real, gritty, season-saving consistency.
Mary Earps doesn’t play cute. She plays dominant. And that, sometimes, seems harder to celebrate.
More Than a Goalkeeper
If anything, this controversy has sharpened Earps’ legacy. She remains gracious but unrelenting, using the moment not to rage, but to remind. Remind everyone watching that visibility without valuation is hollow.
And for young girls strapping on gloves in cold grass fields across the UK, Earps remains a living answer to the question: Can we dream big, too?
Snubs fade. Legacies do not. And in that arena, Mary Earps is already untouchable.