A year later, she had earned a move to Chelsea. Now, in 2025, she’s England’s number one.

Hampton has never forgotten her roots, and for that reason, she was keen to discuss how the supporters can help sustain players at long summer tournaments when we sat down with her before the end of the domestic campaign.

‘Being involved with your country is always a special experience,’ said the goalkeeper. ‘It brings joy to everyone in the nation when a tournament's going on.

‘You’re in a bubble as a team, but you’ve still got the presence of all the supporters, cheering us on and supporting us along the way, and it never goes unnoticed. I was one of those fans in previous tournaments, so the fact that I'm now on the other end of it is amazing.’

Her role as a back-up at Euro 2022 allowed Hampton to experience the wave of emotion that surrounded England’s victory on home soil.

Like many others who were part of that squad, she sees that summer as a pivotal moment for the women’s game – a moment of take-off from which things would never be the same.

There were high expectations placed upon England right from the get-go in 2022, and Hampton believes that status was well-deserved.

‘I didn't know what to expect, but I knew that everyone had us down as favourites,’ she continued. ‘You could see why from the results that we got. Our team was unstoppable, and we took it to another level, a higher standard.

‘Every single time a goal went in, the stadiums erupted. The noise in the stadiums was deafening. When the score went to 1-1 in the final at Wembley, we were drawing on the support from the fans to push us in extra-time, and when Chloe (Kelly) popped up with that winner, it was unbelievable. The emotions of that tournament were all over the place.

‘What we'd achieved didn’t sink in until the next day in Trafalgar Square, when we basically shut down London. I think that's when I truly realised how many people were invested in the women's game. It was a big turning point.’

The Lionesses will once again go into this summer’s competition in Switzerland with lofty expectations placed upon them, this time as tournament holders.

Hampton feels this pressure is not unique to the England team. A major international tournament comes with an inevitable weight placed on every participant.

That's why the Chelsea goalkeeper is calling upon the fans to help sustain the team once more as they bid to retain their trophy this summer.

‘We don't want to put any pressure on ourselves,’ explains Hampton. ‘We want to perform as well as we know we can, because other nations will see it as a failure if they don't win too.

‘Spain are the World Cup holders, Germany just missed out at the last Euros, and France and the Netherlands are coming through. Every nation will see it as a failure if they don't win. They will face pressure from their own countries and their fans. I don't think we're in a different position from any other nation.

‘We're just going to go out and play the football we know we can play. We’ll hold ourselves accountable for everything, maintain our standards and work ethic, and then let’s see where it takes us. We have faith in ourselves, and we need people to get behind us, too.’