One of the Women's Super League's most promising goalkeepers talks to GOAL about her path, her ambitions and the influence of one of the game's best
Mary Earps is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. A European champion and a World Cup finalist, it’s a status backed up by a flurry of individual awards she has collected over the past 12 months or so. The judges for those accolades certainly know she’s right up there – be they journalists, fellow players or fans. Emily Ramsey knows it too.
During her time coming through the system at Manchester United, the 22-year-old shot-stopper worked closely with Earps on a regular basis and in February, when she was called up by England as a reward for her excellent form on loan at Everton, she got to see her in a new environment.
“To see the level that [the goalkeepers] train at…” Ramsey says, recalling the experience in an interview with GOAL. “The level of training was really, really high and you've got to step up to that. I know Mary and how she works quite well from United, but to see the commitment and the almost obsession with being the best and making herself the best for the games, it's really good for young goalkeepers to see that.
“Mary's a really good person to learn from because she's had so much experience and she's had it at different levels – not playing and playing, playing at the best team in the league and playing at one of the lower teams in the league. She's the full package to learn from, so why would you not try and tap into that?”
But there’s a fine balance to strike, too. While Ramsey was getting the chance to learn under Earps at Manchester United, it also meant her first-team opportunities were limited. To get the game time she needed to become one of the best in her own right, she knew she needed to move on.
And so that’s what she did. When her contract came up at United this summer, Ramsey, who has spent 12 of the last 13 years with the Red Devils, decided to leave. Now, she’s at Everton on a permanent basis, part of a team looking to cause problems for those big guns while hoping her individual form will earn her more England opportunities after the one in February was cut short by injury.
It's fair to say that both parties look to be on the right track.
GettyRight time to move on
When you’ve spent so long at one club, it’s never going to be easy to leave. But when Ramsey talks about her decision to move on from United earlier this year, she is confident that it was the right one.
“It was something that I think I had sort of come to terms with in my own head quite a long while before my contract was running out,” she admits. “I knew that for me, for the best of my career, that I wanted to move away and then luckily, I had the great experience last season and Everton is also close to home. It just felt like the perfect fit and I've really enjoyed all of my time here so far.
“The way Mary has played the past couple of seasons, you're never going to take her out of the team. She's been crowned the best goalkeeper in the world and I had to be realistic with that.
“It was difficult because obviously I've been there for so many years, but I was never given that real opportunity in the first team, especially the last couple of seasons, and I didn't feel I was getting that opportunity again so it wouldn't have been the right decision for me, for my career, [to stay].”
AdvertisementGettyFinding a new home
Before her contract had even expired, Ramsey had found a new home. The goalkeeper joined Everton on loan last season and quickly realised it was somewhere she enjoyed playing her football.
“We had conversations about [making the deal permanent] when I was here last year,” she says. “I knew I was going to be running out my contract at United. My focus was to play and I knew that if I was playing then I wanted to make that something permanent. I didn't want to sit on the bench behind another goalkeeper.
“Everton has a unique environment because there is me and Courtney [Brosnan] and we both played last year. I really felt the opportunity to grow with the manager's backing and I felt like I was going to be given the opportunity to play a good number of minutes this season, so it was a pretty easy decision.”
Ramsey talks highly of the style of play that Everton head coach Brian Sorensen wants to implement as being a factor in her desire to return, as well as the “cohesive group” of players in the squad.
“The main factor is the opportunity to get minutes in the WSL, which is my priority to move my career forward,” she explains. “The rest of it was a bonus, which moved me towards thinking, 'Definitely Everton'.”
GettyCompetition for places
But as Ramsey alludes to, those minutes are not guaranteed. She’s not left United and walked into a No.1 role. Everton is instead one of few clubs in the WSL where it genuinely feels like there isn’t a first-choice goalkeeper.
Brosnan, Ramsey’s competition, has been capped 28 times by Ireland, becoming her country’s No.1 in recent years and starting every game at their first Women’s World Cup this past summer. She’s played football in the United States, France and England, and is an excellent shot-stopper.
“It can be difficult for goalkeepers to balance that relationship,” Ramsey says. “I do think me and Courtney are quite good at it. We're friends on and off the pitch and we work well together, we push each other well. We both want to play, so one person will always be feeling a bit disappointed if they're not playing, but I think we're really good at making each other better.
“It’s a privilege to play and train with somebody like Courtney. She is a very lovely person and really supportive of the whole team. What more can you really ask for from a team-mate?”
GettyGetting used to the battle
Ramsey is hopeful that the situation can “bring the best out of both of us” and that’s certainly what coaches who choose to have two top goalkeepers fighting for one spot believe can happen. “I think you're always going to train and play better when you've got someone else that's pushing you to that level, when you're not just coasting,” Ramsey says.
It will be a great learning experience for her and it’s something she will have to get used to if success at club level is to translate to the international scene, too. After all, England have a heap of promising young shot-stoppers coming through behind Earps. Ellie Roebuck, who has been playing regularly for Manchester City for the best part of seven years, is still only 24 years old; Sandy MacIver, Roebuck's competition at club level, is 25; and Hannah Hampton, who signed for Chelsea from Aston Villa this summer, is 22 – the same age as Ramsey.
It's a highly competitive pool of goalkeepers that are all fighting hard for minutes at club level. Ramsey’s full focus is on Everton and how to be the best version of herself for the Toffees, but if she can achieve that, then you’d certainly think that those chances with England will come along.
