The 25-year-old Chelsea star is set to represent England at the UEFA European Women's Championship this year, and the Lioness has now reflected on her journey with the sport and how it has shaped her life.

Speaking with Elle, she said: “As a young girl, growing up and having the difficulties everyone has coming through school – with friendships, bullying – football was an escape.

“You make friends who understand you in a different way, who have the same interests and want the same outcomes in life.”

Even so, Hampton admitted life in the sport hasn’t always been easy, particularly when it was rumoured that she had been dropped from the England and Aston Villa squads four years ago due to “attitude problems”, and likely wouldn’t be picked for the national team by England manager Sarina Wiegman.

Hampton said: “Media scrutiny gets to you more than you realise. At a young age, I was likely exposed to more of it than most people are in their entire career, and I wasn’t ready.”

While the story was untrue, the negative attention on Hampton had nearly forced her to leave football altogether had it not been for her friends and family.

She said: “It was harder to find that fight in me to prove people wrong, but somehow I managed it. I had all my friends and my family around me at the time to guide me in the right direction
and keep me going.

“It’s worked out for the best – I’ve got a lot to thank them for.”

As football amongst women continues to become more and more popular, Hampton thinks there are still serveral barriers to the sport that need to broken down “to make it easy for the next generation to play, push the game to another level and help try to minimise the scrutiny that you get from fans comparing the men’s and women’s game”.

The goalkeeper added there are a lot more allies in men’s football than people would first believe.

She said: “It’s going in the right direction for sure, but obviously things can always be better.”