Like all young players thrust into the limelight, White admitted Hampton was a “little immature” when they first played together at Birmingham.
“Her emotions would take hold of her a lot, which they would do for any 16-year-old, and it was about dealing with the ups and downs.
“You won’t save a goal every time. Managing her emotions needed time, experience and understanding.
“I tried to take her under my wing a little bit and give her that guidance. I felt at that time she would be a very good goalkeeper but she needed some help.”
Hampton rose through England’s ranks, making her senior debut against future world champions Spain in 2022.
She made the squad for Euro 2022 but months after celebrating victory – often seen dancing with White during laps of honour – her career hit a stumbling block.
Reports suggested she was dropped from the England squad because of her behaviour and she had to wait until March 2023 for a recall, when manager Sarina Wiegman said Hampton had “sorted out personal issues”.
Speaking about that time, Hampton said the stories were “hurtful” and she revealed on the Fozcast podcast, external recently that she had considered quitting football.
“I was a very young girl when all the stories came out and you’re not really prepared for that. You don’t expect it,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
“There have been moments when everyone [in the squad] has probably thought they were in a tough position, but you get each other out of it.
“You can’t let all the media scrutiny win. If you do that it just adds fuel to the fire and I wasn’t willing to accept that.
“I wanted to show who I am as a person and show that wasn’t always true. I thought ‘just dig in’. I think I can say that I’ve proven people wrong.”
Ward managed Hampton at Aston Villa at the time, having brought her with her from Birmingham.
She fielded questions about Hampton’s situation in news conferences and left the goalkeeper out of the squad against Chelsea for the “best interests” of the team.
“We had an aligned agreement between Sarina, myself and Hannah on how we would help her with it,” said Ward, reflecting on the time.
“It was a difficult time for Hannah but it was probably a moment that really helped her. It was the moment she realised she had good support around her.
“She was a young kid that just really needed support.”
White, who captained England for Hampton’s debut, retired from international football just before she was dropped from the squad.
But White believed Hampton “just needed time” to mature and felt she did that under former Chelsea manager Emma Hayes when she joined them in 2023.
Having “an arm around her shoulders” helped, said White, as well as the drive to become Chelsea’s number one and get another shot on the international stage.
“It’s obviously not ideal not being selected for England. A lot of things transpired. Fair play to her because she did just get her head down and work hard,” said White.
“She just had to rebuild some of those relationships and gain them back in the England squad. I feel like she let her football do the talking.
“Everyone goes through ups and downs, rollercoaster emotions and going in and out of the squads. I am really proud of her. I’m excited to see her at the Euros.”
