Alex Scott (footballer, born 1984)

Alexandra Virina Scott MBE (born 14 October 1984) is an English former footballer who mostly played as a right-back for Arsenal in the FA WSL, pundit and presenter. She made 140 appearances for the English national team and also represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics.

Alex Scott
MBE
Scott in 2019
Personal information
Full name Alexandra Virina Scott[1]
Date of birth (1984-10-14) 14 October 1984[1]
Place of birth London, England
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1]
Playing position(s) Right back
Youth career
1992–1999 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Arsenal
2004–2005 Birmingham City 15 (2)
2005–2009 Arsenal 72 (6)
2009–2011 Boston Breakers 55 (1)
2012–2018 Arsenal 76 (6)
Total 218 (15)
National team
2004–2017 England 140 (12)
2012 Great Britain 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:00, 12 May 2018 (UTC)[2][3]

At club level, Scott has had three separate spells with Arsenal, punctuated with a season at Birmingham City in 2004–05 and three years in the American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) with Boston Breakers. She scored the winning goal for Arsenal in the 2007 UEFA Women's Cup Final.

Currently, she has a career in broadcasting, notably appearing as a pundit during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Club career
Scott playing for Arsenal with Emma Byrne looking on

Start in England

Scott signed on with Arsenal in 1992, at the age of eight.[4] After breaking into the first team as a striker or right winger,[5] she was later converted to full-back. Scott remained with Arsenal until the 2004–05 season, after which she moved to Birmingham City. With the addition of Scott, the club finished fourth in the FA Women's Premier League National Division. However, due to Birmingham's financial difficulties, she returned to Arsenal for the 2005–06 season.

Upon rejoining Arsenal, Scott helped the club to a domestic double of the FA Women's Premier League and FA Women's Cup. She was also a key figure in Arsenal's historic "Quadruple" season in which they won all of their trophy competitions, including the 2006–07 UEFA Women's Cup. Arsenal were the first ever British side to win the competition, with Scott scoring the only goal in the two-legged tie with Umeå IK. She appeared in 22 Premier League games, scoring two goals. In all competitions, she made 40 appearances and scored four goals.

The 2007–08 season saw Scott appear in 21 games, scoring once. In all competitions, she made 35 appearances, scoring three goals. In the 2008–09 season, Scott scored once in 13 games. In all competitions, she made 24 appearances, adding two goals.

Move to the United States
Scott playing for the Boston Breakers in the WPS

Upon the creation of a new women's league in the United States, Women's Professional Soccer, it was announced on 25 September 2008 that her WPS playing rights had been assigned to Chicago Red Stars, whose head coach was former Arsenal assistant Emma Hayes. Her rights were traded on 15 January 2009 to Boston Breakers and it was announced on 6 February 2009 that she would be leaving Arsenal to join up with her new team.[6]

In the inaugural 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, Scott played in 17 games for the Breakers. She scored one goal and added one assist. In 2010, Scott featured in 21 games and registered two assists. She started 14 of her 15 matches in 2011. In December 2011, Scott returned to Arsenal on loan for the duration of a three-match pre-season tour of Japan.[7]

Back to England

When the WPS collapsed ahead of the 2012 campaign, Scott returned for a third spell at Arsenal. She was joined by Boston teammate Kelly Smith.[8] Scott was named captain for the 2014–15 season. She did not take part in the 2015 Continental Cup final where Arsenal Ladies beat Notts County to the Cup.[9] In the following season, Scott helped take Arsenal to the final of the 2016 FA Cup vs Chelsea which the Gunners won 1–0.[10] Scott played her last game on 12 May 2018 against Manchester City Women which Arsenal won 2–1.[11]

International career
Scott playing for England in 2014

England

Scott competed at the U19 and U21 levels for England, including at the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada.[12]

Scott made her full debut against the Netherlands on 18 September 2004. She played in the 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship, as well as the 2007, 2011 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cups. She won silver at the 2009 UEFA Women's Euros and bronze at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[13]

In November 2014, Scott headed powerfully past her own goalkeeper to give Germany the lead in England's crushing 3–0 defeat at Wembley Stadium.[14]

On 2 September 2017, Scott retired from international football. On the date of retirement, she ended up as the second most capped England player with 140 appearances.[15]

Great Britain Olympics

In June 2012, Scott was named in the 18-player Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics.[16]

International goals

[17]

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
227 October 2005Tapolca Hungary13–02007 FIFA World Cup Qual.2
311 May 2006St. Mary's, Southampton Hungary2–02007 FIFA World Cup Qual.1
425 October 2006Waldstadion, Ahlen Germany1–5Friendly1
58 March 2007National Hockey Stadium, Milton Keynes Russia6–0Friendly1
628 January 2007Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou United States1–12007 Four Nations Tournament1
827 October 2007Bescot Stadium, Walsall Belarus4–02009 UEFA Championship Qual.2
926 November 2009Buca Arena, İzmir Turkey3–02011 FIFA World Cup Qual.1
111 March 2010GSP Stadium, Nicosia Italy3–2Cyprus Cup2
1221 August 2010Sepp-Doll-Stadion, Krems Austria4–02011 FIFA World Cup Qual.1

Media career

Scott began her media career while still playing football, appearing on programs such as Soccer AM[18] with other minor roles at BBC Sport, BT Sport, and Sky Sports.[19] In 2016 Scott was featured in Bear Grylls' ITV show, Mission Survive where she won.[20]

Following Scott's retirement in 2017, she turned her focus full-time to television broadcasting, co-presenting on Match of the Day Kickabout.[21] She became well known to a wider audience when she covered the 2018 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first female football pundit at a World Cup for the BBC.[22] After the tournament, she continued to provide insight on the Premier League, and in August 2018 became the first female pundit on Sky Sports, joining the Super Sunday team.[23] She covered the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup for the BBC.[22] In August 2019, Scott was announced as the new co-host of Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday alongside Chris Kamara.[24]

From September 2019 Scott was a contestant on the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, paired with professional dancer Neil Jones.[25] The couple were eliminated in week 11, coming 5th.

* Score awarded by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro
** Neil was injured during week 6 rehearsals, so Kevin Clifton danced in his place

  • Red number indicates Alex and Neil were at the bottom of the leaderboard

Scott has spoken out repeatedly about the sexist abuse she frequently receives on social media because of her role as a football pundit.[22][26]

Personal life

Scott was born in Poplar, East London and is of Irish mother and Jamaican father.[27] In 2011, Scott started 'The Alex Scott Academy' in partnership with Kingston College and Puma, for female footballers aged 16–19 years. This represented the first such academy in the UK and was intended to highlight the growth of the women's game.[28] Scott also wrote a weekly women's football column in the Morning Star newspaper.[29]

Scott was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to football.[30]

Honours

Arsenal

  • FA Women's Premier League: 2003–04,[31] 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
  • FA WSL: 2012
  • FA WSL Cup: 2012, 2013, 2015
  • FA Cup: 2003–04,[32] 2005–06,[33] 2006–07,[34] 2007–08,[35] 2012–13, 2013–14,[36] 2015–16[10][37]
  • UEFA Women's Champions League: 2006–07
  • FA Women's Community Shield: 2006,[38] 2008[39]
  • FA Women's Premier League Cup: 2006–07,[40] 2008–09[41]

England

  • Cyprus Cup: 2009, 2013, 2015[42][43][44]
  • UEFA Women's Championship runner-up: 2009[45]
  • FIFA Women's World Cup third place: 2015[46]

References
  1. "FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015: List of players: England" (PDF). FIFA. 6 July 2015. p. 10. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. "Alex Scott". The FA. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  3. "Alex Scott". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  4. "Ladies re-sign Yankey and Scott". Arsenal F.C. 19 August 2005. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  5. "Ellen Maggs going great Guns at Arsenal". femaleSOCCER.net. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  6. "Alex Scott set to join the Boston Breakers | Ladies News". Arsenal F.C. 6 February 2009. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  7. "Arsenal enjoy charity Japan trip". UEFA. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  8. "England's Kelly Smith and Alex Scott rejoin Arsenal Ladies". BBC Sport. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  9. "Continental Cup final: Arsenal Ladies 3–0 Notts County Ladies". 1 November 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  10. "Arsenal Ladies 1–0 Chelsea Ladies". BBC Sport. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  11. "Arsenal Women 2–1 Manchester City women". BBC Sport. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  12. "England Player Biographies". Women's Soccer World. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  13. "Centurion Alex Scott retires from England duty". The FA. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  14. Thompson, Anna (23 November 2014). "England Women 0–3 Germany Women". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  15. "Alex Scott: England defender retires from international football". BBC Sport. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  16. "Team GB women's squad for London 2012 announced". BBC Sport. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  17. Karsdorp, Dirk (2018). The England Women's FC 1972 – 2018: The Lionesses – A Statistical Record. Soccer Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-86223-391-1.
  18. "Exclusive: How England star Alex Scott is pioneering the role of women in sport". Metro. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  19. Johal, Harjeet. "Euro 2017: Q&A with England fullback Alex Scott – Equalizer Soccer". Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  20. "Bear Grylls Mission Survive final: Alex Scott beats Jason Gardiner and Samantha Barks to win". 7 April 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  21. Rutzler, Peter (19 June 2018). "'Knowledgeable, insightful, brilliant': BBC pundit Alex Scott earns rave reviews at World Cup". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  22. Topping, Alexandra (18 December 2018). "What happened next? How the World Cup brought in a new era for Alex Scott – and women in football". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  23. "Alex Scott to create history by being Sky Sport's first ever female pundit". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  24. "Football on Sky Sports in 2019/20: New season, new signings". Sky Sports. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  25. "Presenter and former footballer Alex Scott is our 12th Strictly celeb". BBC. 6 August 2019.
  26. "Alex Scott: Ex-England defender receives sexist abuse 'every single day' on social media". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  28. "The Alex Scott Academy". Kingston College – Sport Academies. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  29. Scott, Alex (17 August 2012). "The Alex Scott column: It's time to get back to business with the Gunners". Morning Star. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  30. "Alex Scott to receive an MBE". www.arsenal.com.
  31. Kubusch, Lars; Shannon, David (6 March 2005). "2003–04 season". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  32. "2004 FA Women's Cup final". 3 May 2004. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  33. Harris, Chris (1 May 2006). "FA Women's Cup Final: Leeds 0–5 Arsenal". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  34. Cheese, Caroline (7 May 2007). "Arsenal Ladies 4–1 Charlton Women". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  35. Harris, Chris (5 May 2008). "FA Women's Cup Final – Leeds 1–4 Arsenal". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  36. "Women's FA Cup final: Arsenal beat Everton to retain trophy". Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  37. "England – A. Scott". Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  38. Harris, Chris (2 August 2006). "Comm Shield: Arsenal Ladies 3 Everton 0". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  39. "Community Shield: Everton 0–1 Arsenal Ladies". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  40. "Arsenal clinch League Cup glory". 4 March 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  41. Leighton, Tony (26 February 2009). "Arsenal's Smith signs off in style". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  42. Leighton, Tony (12 March 2009). "England women win Cyprus Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  43. Leighton, Tony (13 March 2013). "Rachel Yankey volley earns England women their second Cyprus Cup title". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  44. Lavery, Glenn (11 March 2015). "England 1–0 Canada: Cyprus Cup final match report". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  45. "UEFA Women's EURO 2009 - Final". UEFA. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  46. "Match for third place - Match report" (PDF). FIFA. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
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