Mary Earps dedicated to being a role model for young fans amid interaction debate

England star Mary Earps has said that inspiring the next generation of goalkeepers is her higher purpose, despite facing unfair backlash online after being unable to meet every single fan after recent Manchester United and Lionesses games.

On the pitch, England will continue their quest to qualify for the 2024 Olympics — on behalf of Great Britain & Northern Ireland — with two Nations League fixtures against Belgium. But, away from it, fan interactions have sparked a broad debate over the accessibility supporters have to players.

The rapid growth of the women's game has seen a 200% increase in fans attending WSL fixtures after England won Euro 2022 in front of 87,192 fans at Wembley Stadium. The 2022/23 season had a record average crowd of over 6,000, compared to an average attendance of just 748 in 2014.

This acceleration has made it increasingly impossible for players to meet with and interact every fan after the final whistle, with some supporters even taking to social media to vent their frustration.

On Sunday, Earps responded on Instagram after being targeted with negative messages following Manchester United's WSL win over Everton. As it happens, the 30-year-old has been among the longest to stay out taking pictures and signing autographs and has a long established reputation for being extremely generous with her time in such circumstances. But some were still disappointed.

Mary Earps kept a clean sheet in a 5-0 win yesterday, gave up her time afterwards to engage with fans and still got home to nasty stuff like this because it was impossible to get to everyone. Mary has always been one of the most generous with her time when she absolutely doesn’t… pic.twitter.com/M1SLITkgi4

«In terms of the accessibility that people