Not for the first time in her career, there may well be tears if Mary Earps wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year tonight.
The award would be the icing on the cake of a remarkable 12 months for the England goalkeeper.
Earps has already won Best FIFA Goalkeeper, the Super League Golden Glove, the World Cup Golden Glove and England Player of the Year. She also came fifth in the Ballon d’Or.
They are brilliant outstanding, especially when you consider three years ago Earps was sat on her kitchen floor in tears after being left out of yet another England squad.
She learned the news while scrolling on Instagram and her omission came in the middle of an exile that lasted nearly two years.
Earps was crestfallen and considered retirement, but she decided to fight on and is now the best goalkeeper in the women’s game and a national treasure.
Arsenal are keen to sign her next summer when her contract with Manchester United expires, but the 30-year-old will not be short of options.
“Mary is an incredible human, she’s a perfectionist,” Beth Mead, who won SPOTY last year, tells Standard Sport.
“She has taken the women’s game to a new level, especially for goalkeepers. I think what Mary has done, and everything she is getting right now, is what she deserves.
“I am very proud of her and I really hope she can be the second female footballer to get that trophy. That’d be pretty cool if we both did it in the last two years.”
Earps produced one of the most iconic sporting moments of the year when she saved a penalty from Spain’s Jenni Hermoso in the World Cup Final before screaming “f****** yes, f*** off!”.
Off the pitch, she has also made an impact.
Before the World Cup, Earps took aim at England kit suppliers Nike for not making her replica goalkeeper shirt available for fans.
Earps had been speaking to Nike long before she went public in July and they have since made her shirts available. Last week they went on sale, stocked to the level as if the men’s team were playing in a major tournament, and sold out in five minutes.
That is a sign of Earps’ huge popularity and she has a cult following at England games now, with fans chanting: “Mary, Mary, Mary” as if it were a scene from Rocky Balboa.
Earps cites England boss Sarina Wiegman as a big reason for her career turning around. Wiegman turned to Earps when naming her first squad in September 2021.
Earps is a vocal character and Wiegman liked her personality. She has since gone on to captain the Lionesses when Leah Williamson and Millie Bright have been absent, and is very influential in the dressing room.
Earps likes Wiegman’s directness and honesty, and that is the way she leads in goal.
She is happy to be loud and puts that confidence down to her childhood, when she would compete in singing and dancing competitions.
Earps was a talented athlete - turning her hand to badminton, judo and swimming - but football became her love. She was thrown in goal for one game, saved a penalty, and from then on never looked back.
The journey was not easy, though, as Earps juggled work with playing in her early years. She has stints at a cinema and a toy shop on her CV, while she also ran a goalkeeper clinic for youngsters while at Reading.
Earps’ work ethic made her stand out from others and that attitude has remained. She is regarded as one of the best trainers in the England squad, with her team-mates often poking fun at her rigorous stretching routine.
Lionesses goalkeeping coach Darren Ward has had a big impact on Earps since joining the England set-up in 2021. He was working at Sheffield United before then and is credited with the development of Manchester United’s Dean Henderson when he was at Bramall Lane.
Ward has a good relationship with Earps and the pair regularly analyse sessions and games on video after training.
Earps’ form has led to her being dubbed ‘Mary Queen of Stops’, while her penchant for social media has also handed her the nickname ‘TikTok Queen’.
But to her team-mates, the goalkeeper is just ‘Mearps’ - and that is the way she likes it.
Even after her remarkable rise, Earps stays grounded and will not forget the tough times.
