Swearing star Earps nearly quit game before inspiring England and taking on Nike

The goalkeeper is a huge presence on and off the pitch and is one of England's most popular sportspeople.

It's been some journey for Earps to get to this point.

The 30-year-old came very close to quitting football just over two years ago, so it's been a dramatic rise for the Manchester United goalkeeper.

Earps started her career at Leicester before joining Doncaster Rovers Belles ahead of the inaugural Women's Super League campaign.

From there, she moved to Birmingham, Bristol Academy and Reading.

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Bundesliga giants Wolfsburg came calling, but Earps didn't make much impact, amassing just four Bundesliga appearances before heading back to England to join United.

Earps has been there ever since, taking the number one jersey for club and country.

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Away from the pitch, Earps has an information management and business studies degree and was contemplating packing football in and going after something related to her degree.

Speaking to England's website about that moment, she said: "I was in the final year of my contract at United last year and was weighing up options of whether to play, whether not to play, whether I was going to go into the business world and use my degree there.

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"[Moving away from football] was definitely part of the conversation. I spoke to my dad and my mum about it. I said 'this is my thought process, these things have happened over the last few years, and what do I want from my life and what do I want for my future? I really need to consider it as an option'.

"I think part of them was disappointed because they know how much I love the game, but they also respect that you have to, at some point, think about the future and think about where your life is.

"Women's football is very different to men's football. It's not a normal job and it's not a case of you are set for life in that way, you have to plan. I never shy away from that harsh reality."

Thankfully, things turned around, and Earps' breakthrough to prominence came during the 2022 Euros.

She was Sarina Wiegman's number one and a key player as the Lionesses won the tournament at Wembley.

Along the way to the win, Earps made several key saves and her fame only became greater during the Women's World Cup.

England were probably not at their best throughout the whole tournament but made it to the final thanks to Earps.

Then in the final, she saved a penalty to give the Lionesses hope.

In the end, they slipped to a 1-0 defeat, but Earps' hilarious 'f*** off' after the penalty save endeared her to the nation.

Earps also managed to take on Nike and win after the giant sportswear manufacturer initially didn't release her World Cup kit.

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But after some serious backlash, the England goalkeeper won the battle, and Nike released her kit, which sold out instantly.

So after her rapid rise, it's no wonder that Earps is loved by so many.