“Regrets, I’ve had a few…” So sang Frank Sinatra, immortalising the work of French lyricists Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, and Claude Francois. It would appear Ol’ Blue Eyes is joined by England exile Millie Bright.
The Chelsea veteran said she would have done anything to be in the England dressing room in the immediacy of Euro 2025 glory, sharing the moment, leading the celebrations, singing her song in the euphoria of the kind of victory that touches only the few and so rarely.
Bright stood herself down from international service. Exhausted by cumulative years on the front line for England and Chelsea, Bright felt she could not give enough of herself to do the team justice. Absolutely fair enough, but that did not stop the strains of regret pricking at her emotions as she looked on from the outside.
You wonder also how Mary Earps, who also withdrew voluntarily six weeks before the tournament started, must have felt watching her former team-mates touching history so powerfully in Switzerland. Earps’ decision was informed by the rise of another, head coach Serina Wiegman informing her that she had fallen behind Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton in the goalkeeping hierarchy.
Wiegman spoke of Earps’ disappointment at the decision. She clearly felt that given her standing in the group and level of experience the understudy role was not for her and it was best to make a clean break.
Unlike Bright, who expressed her feelings on her podcast with former England team-mate Rachel Daly, now retired, Earps communicated only briefly, posting on Instagram: “WOW WOW WOW INCREDIBLE”.
Speaking before the tournament on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, 32-year-old Earps, now at Paris Saint-Germain, said the decision to end her international career had been difficult and painful.
“Mentally, physically, I was just like, ‘Right, I’ve given everything here,'” she said.
“Maybe other people weren’t experiencing it the way I was experiencing it. I’m quite private, I keep everything in and I try to internalise it and rationalise it.
“It was shocking to some people but we’ve been having those conversations behind closed doors.”
Earps felt the reporting of the decision “villainised” her. While that is regrettable, it does reflect how keenly attached to her the public had become during her golden period culminating with England’s historic victory three years ago.
Her popularity was further demonstrated 12 months later by the public reaction to Nike’s appalling failure to stock replica Earp shirts after the World Cup.
Across a gripping month in Switzerland, Hampton vindicated her selectwion with a series of spectacular performances, not least in the penalty shootouts against Sweden and Spain.
Moreover, in doing so her own engaging personality shone through, laying the foundation for a long career as a crowd favourite.
The world turns. Retirement is inevitable. Samuel Johnson offered this perspective which Earps, perhaps, wishes she had understood: “Don’t think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.”
The public were not ready to see Earps leave and that was reflected in the reaction.
James Milner put it more succinctly. “You are a long time retired,” he said. “I don’t want to sit there when that happens and think, ‘Oh, I wish I had done that better.’”
Maybe Earps is dealing with that feeling as she watches her former team-mates receiving the adulation of the nation, passing through the offices of state in Westminster to accept the congratulations of the higher-ups.
Athletic lives are getting longer. For outfield players 32 is no age. For goalies, career expectancy is even longer.
Furthermore, football is a contact sport, even for keepers. The variables of fitness and form could easily bring Earps back into the equation were she still a member of the squad.
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Bright has not retired. At 31, a return to the international arena is still possible for her.
Earps, however, has shut the door, ending prematurely an experience that could still have enriched her.
What felt like an appropriate response in the heat of her disappointment might morph into needless regret.
In his response to winning the Senior Open championship at Sunningdale on Sunday, 53-year-old Padraig Harrington put it best: “You come to this stage there is only a certain window.
“You can win later on as a senior but the window they say is up to 55, 56 and you want to get it done.
“It starts becoming a problem if you don’t do it soon. I’m glad I’ve got mine.”
Only Earps will know if, by acting as she did, she denied herself another shot at glory.
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