England goalkeeper Hampton opens up on her battle with Earps

Hannah Hampton is not often caught off guard but a question about her musical talent has thrown the Chelsea and England goalkeeper.

'Where has that one flown in from?'

Well, Emma Hayes used to put videos of you playing on away trips on her Instagram...

'Oh yeah she got really into Instagram didn't she? I can't lie, I was loving the stories!

'I just taught myself in school to play the piano, I got bored sometimes.'

If Hampton was surprised by the question, those gathered around the Chelsea table on the Women's Super League media day were equally taken aback by her response.

You taught yourself?

'Yeah, I just got bored in school and I thought 'what can I do to keep myself entertained?' Especially when it was rainy days and you couldn't go on the playground and play football, that upset me a lot.

'So I'd just go down to the music block, play some keys on the piano a few times and then I thought 'let's just try and learn something,' so I taught myself and went from there really.

'My grandparents always had a piano at theirs and I thought it was just a pretty accessory at the beginning and then I thought 'if I can actually play this it will be nice' so I started playing, got a piano myself and went from there.'

So you can read sheet music?

'Yeah..'

What type of stuff do you play?

'I'm a mix, whatever people want I'll just get it up and play it on my phone.'

So you can play on demand?

'Pretty much, I just need the music and then I'll be ready to go.

'I taught myself more classical because the school that I was at was a school like that. I had to teach myself the more classical stuff so like The River Flows in You or Nuvole Bianchi and stuff like that.'

Away from the music, Hampton is gearing up for a crucial season for both her and Chelsea. The Blues are under new management after the departure of Emma Hayes and appointment of Sonia Bompastor, but Hampton herself has key targets to fulfill.

With a European Championship to look forward to in 2025, Hampton knows she will have to be consistently performing at a high level to oust Mary Earps from England's starting XI. In the last six months she has shown she can more than compete with the two-time FIFA Best winner.

After Earps was forced off with an injury against France in June, Hampton came in and performed well, which led Sarina Wiegman to stick with the 23-year-old for games against the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, despite Earps having returned from injury.

'Everyone's dream is to play for England and to be given any sort of opportunity, you're always going to relish those moments and take the opportunity as best you can,' Hampton says of the competition in the Lionesses.

'I have no idea whether I've done that or not and what Sarina is thinking, but whenever I have the opportunity to put on an England shirt, whether that be training or playing games, I'm beaming with a smile from ear to ear.

'It's such an honour and proud moment for me. You're always going to cherish those moments.

'There's so many more things I want to achieve in an England shirt and I want to be able to play in big games. So to be able to have that opportunity in the last couple of international camps with the qualifiers, it was a special moment.

'To say that I've helped the team qualify for the Euros, nothing comes better than that really.

'My next step is to keep playing as many games as I possibly can and keep making Sarina's decision really difficult on who she's going to put down on that team sheet first.

'At the end of the day I'm just going out and enjoying my football. If I enjoy it, I play my best, and anything else that comes with it is a bonus for me.'

Hayes regularly rotated her goalkeepers at Chelsea, with Hampton playing 10 of the 22 league games last season and a further six matches in the Cup competitions. It is unclear whether Bompastor will follow the same method as Hayes or pick a dedicated No 1, but Hampton insists the competition among the 'keeper group is healthy.

'We know a team like Chelsea where you're competing for every trophy possible, rotation is inevitable. To put your body through three games in a week, for any player is going to be tough.

'We know rotation is going to happen, we just don't know when or how often. As a keeper group we're all there for each other. We're quite close-knit. It's healthy competition we like to class it as.

'We like to push each other to be the best that we possibly can. Whoever gets the spot, whoever plays, we cheer on each other's success.

'It's nice to be in a group like that, it's not always been the case with goalkeeper groups that's for sure. We're a friendly bunch. People say we're weird, but we disagree with that one.'

Chelsea are known for their innovative approach to goalkeeper coaching and Hampton speaks highly of the training she received from former coach Stuart Searle, who departed with Hayes to join the United States national team in the summer.

'Everyone kept telling me Stu is going to help you so much and I thought 'we'll see'. My very first session I thought 'wow, this is tough.'

'I loved it because it was a challenge. Within the first week, Stu sat me down and listed 10 things that I needed to improve on. I was thinking 'it's going to be a long season if I've already got 10 now.'

'I think Chelsea have always had pride in their goalkeepers. You look at the goalkeepers of the past and how well they've done. They've always been a club known for having elite players, especially in the goalkeeper department.

'Stu has gone and we've got Seb [Brown] and Dan [Smith] and it's no different. They've picked up where Stu left off and it's exactly the same. Nothing has changed and nothing is different. It's nice to have the consistency of Seb being assistant to now head goalkeeping coach and they know how to work with us. They still push us and it's still a challenge every single day.'

Hampton says the biggest transition from Hayes to former Lyon coach Bompastor is the occasional language barrier, with the latter originating from France.

'She'll use slightly different terminology here and there or when she's trying to have a conversation with you she might just say it in a different way to what she means because of the language barrier but we know what she wants.

'I don't think there's been any difference in terms of the winning mentality and the competitive edge in training and in games and getting your name on that team sheet every week.'

It's clear from the 20-minute conversation with Hampton that Bompastor has a happy camp and one that is ready to compete on all fronts this season.

'Chelsea are in the best hands possible for a replacement for Emma,' Hampton says. 'We know the aspirations Sonia has for us as a team and what she wants us to aim for this season.

'We're all buying into that from the get-go. Pre-season has been hard, getting to know the style of play that she wants.

'We're going in the right direction as a team and it's exciting. I'm sure when the season kicks off we'll all be raring to go to retain that trophy.'