Hannah Hampton proves England’s star turn – after being told she would never play elite sport

 Hannah Hampton, this European Championship belongs to you. You won it, not single-handedly, of course, but no player in this magnificent, unbreakable England side did more to earn it.

If there has been a better tournament from an English goalkeeper, I cannot recall it. Hampton, at the age of just 24, has produced something truly remarkable. It has been the story of the tournament, perhaps the feel-good sports story of the summer.

A tale of redemption, bravery, grit and determination. England have those qualities in abundance, but it has been their goalkeeper who turned them into back-to-back European champions.

How fitting that a team who have been cornered, with their backs against the wall, so many times in Switzerland, ended up winning a tournament because of the sheer defiance of their last line of defence.

There have been so many moments where it looked like England would lose only for them somehow to find a way to win. None of it would have been possible without Hampton

The manager Sarina Wiegman leapt into her goalkeeper’s arms in the wild, joyous scenes that followed their penalty shoot-out victory over Spain. Wiegman knew who had made her the first manager of an England senior team to win a tournament on foreign soil and was quick to pay tribute, saying: “Her story is remarkable, to come into the side the way she did, to make those two penalty saves in the final, it is like a fairy tale.”

A player who started the Euros campaign ruefully acknowledging that there were many England fans who did not want her to be in goal, who resented her presence – whilst clinging to the misguided idea Mary Earps remained a superior option – had finished it with the thanks and praise of the nation. Hampton the Meek has become Hampton the Great.

Imagine going into your first major tournament as a first-choice goalkeeper knowing you were not wanted and finishing it a national treasure.

Then again, imagine being a child who was told she would never be able to play elite sport because of an eye condition that gives her a lack of depth perception in her vision. Hampton has been defying the experts her whole life. She did not give up on her dream and now she is living it.

Of all the decisions Wiegman has made this summer, the tough, controversial and brave call to make Hampton her No 1 had the biggest impact. It caused acrimony and friction back in June, when Earps responded to her demotion by suddenly retiring from international football just five weeks before the tournament began.

It dumped unnecessary and unwanted pressure on a young goalkeeper’s shoulders; it had the potential to turn Hampton into a villain. Make a mistake and she would be vilified. Football can be cruel, especially for a goalkeeper, but when the pressure was on, Hampton delivered in the most awesome fashion.

She did not just win two penalty shoot-outs for the Lionesses, making two saves against Sweden and two more in the final against Spain, she bailed them out over and over again. She made important saves at big moments. She made world-class ones too, including one in the final against Spain, tipping a powerful rising shot from Claudia Pina over the bar when England were, once again, under the pump, outplayed and in danger of crumbling.

A player who has, by her own admission, battled her demons, a player who needed to grow up, has done so. She has, like all of us, not always behaved impeccably. She has done some things she probably regrets, but Wiegman trusted her and has been rewarded in spectacular style.

Hampton also had to cope with the loss of her grandfather two days before the tournament, revealing with an emotional post on Instagram the day after the final how he had died and that she played with the word “Grandpa” on the inside of her shirt collar.

If there was not much to choose between her and Earps in terms of shot stopping, Hampton’s distribution was far superior and meant England could be more direct.

In Chelsea, she already played for the best club side in England. She had won the Women’s Super League, she had proven she could cope under scrutiny and handle pressure. If she could do it at club level, Wiegman had to see if she could do it on the international stage.

We have our answer. Hampton started the summer barely known outside of women’s football. She ends it as a household name. Like all of these Lionesses, we should be grateful she is English.