Keeper

Hampton’s career has been far from smooth sailing, with the ex-Birmingham City goalkeeper hitting headlines when she was dropped from the England squad in 2022 shortly after their first Euros triumph.

Reports said it was a result of her behaviour and she had to wait until March 2023 for a recall, when manager Sarina Wiegman said Hampton had “sorted out personal issues”.

Speaking about that time, Hampton said the stories were “hurtful” and she later revealed on the Fozcast podcast she had considered quitting football.

In November, Mary Earps – her former England team-mate and predecessor as number one – released an autobiography which heavily criticised Hampton.

Earps claimed she told Wiegman she was rewarding “bad behaviour” by recalling Hampton, who had previously been dropped for being “disruptive and unreliable”.

Hampton, who kept eight clean sheets in 19 WSL appearances this season, says goalkeepers need to support each other.

“I think goalkeepers hold a unique pressure that really only goalkeepers truly understand,” added Hampton.

“When I see other goalkeepers making worldie saves, it pushes me and drives me. The women’s game, and goalkeepers especially, are getting to those standards that we hold ourselves to so highly.

“We’re a group, a union. If we can’t rely on each other, then we can’t rely on anyone.”

Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, a former team-mate of Hampton’s at Birmingham, won the WSL 2 Golden Glove award on Monday.

Hampton says Whitehouse “deserves more credit” and believes she will play a star role in Saturday’s play-off match against Leicester City (12:30 BST).

“Seeing the growth of where she’s got to right now isn’t spoken about enough,” said Hampton.

“She was always pushing herself to reach high standards at the Blues. I’m sure she will make a lot more worldie saves to make sure Charlton get to the WSL and we’ll be competing with each other next season.”

Alex Manninger played for Arsenal, Liverpool and Juventus at peak of his career while winning 33 Austria caps.

Former Austria goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who played for Arsenal and a string of Italian clubs, has died at ⁠the age of 48 when the car he was driving was hit by a train at a crossing near Salzburg.

The Austrian Football Association (OEFB) and clubs associated with ⁠the player, who retired as a professional in 2017, mourned his passing on Thursday.

Manninger made 33 appearances for Austria and played for Arsenal from 1997 to 2001 with the club winning the league title and FA Cup in the 1997-1998 season. He ‌ended his career at Liverpool in 2017.

In Italy, the Austrian played for Fiorentina, Torino, Bologna, Siena, Udinese and Juventus.

“Alexander Manninger was an outstanding ambassador of Austrian football on and off the pitch,” OEFB Sporting Director Peter Schoettel said in a statement.

“With his international career, he has set standards and inspired and shaped many young goalkeepers. His professionalism, his calmness and his reliability made him an ⁠important part of his teams and also of the national ⁠team.”

Salzburg police said in a statement that the accident happened about 8:20am (06:20 GMT). First responders freed the driver from the vehicle, but resuscitation was unsuccessful.

“According to initial investigations, the car was ⁠hit by a railcar of the Salzburger Lokalbahn while crossing the railway crossing and dragged along. The driver was alone ⁠in the vehicle. The train driver was uninjured,” ⁠the police said.

Fiorentina said they will observe a minute’s silence and wear black armbands for Thursday’s home Conference League game with Crystal Palace while league leaders Arsenal conveyed their shock on social media.

Other clubs, including ‌Liverpool, issued statements of condolence.

“Today is a very sad day. We have lost not only a great athlete, but a man of rare values: humility, dedication, and ‌an ‌exceptional sense of professionalism,” Juventus said

“Alex Manninger will be remembered for the example he set, on and off the pitch.”