• Former England keeper has met with Sarina Wiegman

• She adds: ‘I’m human. I’m not perfect, I’m still learning’

Mary Earps said she has “learned some tough lessons” and understands why there was such strong condemnation of comments made in her autobiography last year.

The former England goalkeeper told the Guardian the “last thing she wanted to do” was hurt Sarina Wiegman and she is grateful to have had a chance to meet up with the Lionesses head coach and have a “really positive conversation” since the release of her book in November, which led to a huge backlash.

• Lioness will leave German club at end of season

• Aston Villa set to sign Chelsea’s Oriane Jean-François

Arsenal are among the leading candidates to sign Georgia Stanway this summer after Bayern Munich confirmed the England midfielder would leave the German club when her contract expires.

According to sources, the north London club are understood to be one of a number of teams interested in acquiring the 27-year-old on a free transfer, but Renée Slegers’ team are leading the running having tracked Stanway’s progress and are eager to add a world-class midfielder to their squad.

England defender publicly confronted racist abuse at the Euros and ended 2025 a title winner with club and country

The Guardian Footballer of the Year is an award given to a player who has done something remarkable, whether by overcoming adversity, helping others or setting a sporting example by acting with exceptional honesty.

Jess Carter has spent her life grappling with when to hold back and when to speak up; wrestling with being naturally herself, embodying the characteristics her parents instilled in her of being open, honest, vocal and confident, and subduing herself because, while society values those traits, in a black woman they can be viewed negatively.

Meera Syal also made dame while England women’s football and rugby winners feature prominently

The actors Idris Elba and Meera Syal have been made a knight and a dame in the new year honours list, with top awards also going to the ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

The former head of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, was also made a dame and there were knighthoods for Patrick McCabe, a former UN official responsible for clearing unexploded bombs in Gaza; Tristram Hunt, the former Labour MP and now director of the V&A, for services to museums; and Roy Clarke, creator of the sitcoms Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours and Keeping Up Appearances.

The golfer was rewarded for his Masters and Ryder Cup heroics with Ellie Kildunne in second and Lando Norris third

And here are recent Guardian interviews with that trio of elite athletes. Get reading!

Two more contenders for tonight’s big prize have arrived in Salford: Chloe Kelly and Rory McIlroy!

• Four Lionesses, seven from Spain, in women’s world XI

• Donnarumma is named men’s goalkeeper of the year

The France forward Ousmane Dembélé and the Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí were crowned the Fifa Best men’s and women’s players of 2025 respectively at the world governing body’s awards ceremony in Doha.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Dembélé won the trophy for the first time after his club’s maiden Champions League triumph, while Barcelona’s Bonmatí won for the third consecutive year, after her club reached a Champions League final and Spain were Euro 2025 runners-up.

Public vote will decide winner among back-to-back European champions, Rugby World Cup winners and Team Europe

England’s Lionesses are up against their rugby union counterparts, the Red Roses, and Europe’s winning Ryder Cup side on the shortlist for team of the year at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.

For the first time the BBC have swerved having to make the call themselves by making the team award a public vote, with the winners to be announced live at the ceremony on 18 December.

• Presenter fell during buildup of game against Ghana

• Woods later posted that she was ‘ok’ on Instagram

Laura Woods collapsed during ITV’s live buildup to England’s final match of 2025 against Ghana, with the 38‑year‑old presenter revealing later that she had “probably” been battling a virus, and thanking the pundits Ian Wright and Anita Asante for catching her as she fell.

Woods was leading ITV’s coverage of the friendly at St Mary’s and was pitchside with Wright and Asante when the incident happened. The camera immediately cut away and there was an advert break. When ­coverage of the game resumed, Woods’s fellow presenter Katie Shanahan had stepped in to replace her, confirming Woods was unwell.

Midfielder’s three goals illustrate the different attributes that have made her the player she is today

England laid down a marker at Wembley on Saturday evening as they waltzed to victory over China with a scintillating show of attacking force. Among the many eye-catching performances, Georgia Stanway stood out, joining Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones by becoming the third Lioness to score a hat-trick at Wembley. Her three goals and assist formed part of a midfield display that was right up there with the best the national stadium has witnessed over the years.

The 26-year-old has been one of the first names on Sarina Wiegman’s team sheet since the Dutchwoman took over as manager in 2021. Famous for her long-range finishing and tenacious tackling, she is emblematic of the fight and quality that this England team possess. When in top form, she and Keira Walsh form one of the best midfield partnerships out there, complementing each other’s attributes. She is one of the leaders of this team, unafraid to stand up and be counted on and off the pitch when things go wrong and at the core of their success when they go right.

• England Women 8-0 China

• Mead 12 14, Hemp 16, Stanway 23 38pen 52, Toone 71, Russo 78

Deja vu? Heavy England wins have been few and far between in recent years. A 7-0 defeat of a heavily depleted and underfunded Jamaica in their final warm-up game before the Euros was the biggest since a 10-0 defeat of Luxembourg in 2022.

Against China at a moon-topped Wembley, the margin was eight, a Georgia Stanway hat-trick and Beth Mead double was added to by goals from Lauren Hemp, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo to complete the rout.

The Arsenal and England forward is backing new global campaign because talent and teamwork should decide the game – not the climate

I’ll never forget stepping out on to the pitch in Switzerland for the Euro 2025 tournament. The air felt heavy – not with pressure or expectation, but with heat. It was more than 30C (86f) that day. It makes your lungs sting, makes you feel like you’re running through water.

In the England camp, we had done everything to prepare. Ice vests before training, hydration breaks, modified warm-ups – things that just weren’t part of football life a few years ago. At our base in Zurich we even had cryotherapy and Slush Puppies to cool our core temperatures. During training, there were ice-cold towels, extra rest moments and constant reminders to hydrate. You could feel how carefully the staff planned every detail. But when the whistle blew, no protocol could change the fact that the climate itself has changed.

In an exclusive extract from her forthcoming autobiography, the former England goalkeeper reveals how her life unravelled during the Covid lockdowns of 2020

In early 2020, on the eve of lockdown, Phil Neville, then head coach of England, dropped Mary Earps from the squad.

For the first time ever, I began to feel something unimaginable; I felt disillusioned with football and unsure what I was doing in life, chasing this dream that was constantly in reach but never fully within my grasp. And then, abruptly, lockdown hit. And the world changed, at either the best possible time for me – or the very worst.