Jill Louise Scott (born 2 February 1987) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. The

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

technical report into the 2011 Women's World Cup described Scott as one of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's four outstanding players; " nenergetic, ball-winning midfielder who organises the team well, works hard at both ends of the pitch and can change her team's angle of attack." At , Scott is nicknamed "Crouchy" after male international footballer

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...

. After leaving home town club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

for Everton in 2006, she contributed to the Blues'

FA Women's Premier League Cup The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018. The first edition of the Cup includ ...

win in 2008 and

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

victory in 2010. On the individual level, Scott was voted 2008 FA Players' Player of the Year and 2011 FA International Player of the Year. Scott won the 22nd UK series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' and was crowned 'Queen of the Jungle'.

Early life

Scott grew up in

, Tyne and Wear and attended Monkwearmouth Comprehensive School. A keen long-distance runner, Scott ran for Sunderland Harriers, winning the North of England Under-13 cross-country title and the Junior Great North Run, whilst playing football for Boldon Girls. At age 13, she had to decide between football or running, and chose to concentrate on playing football. After leaving school in 2003, Scott did a BTEC National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science at

Gateshead College Gateshead College is a further education college in the town of Gateshead, England. Established on November 15, 1955 at Durham Road in Low Fell, Gateshead. It was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. The original campus was closed as part of a pla ...

. She remained at the college to study for a

University of Sunderland , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Emeli ...

foundation degree in sports and exercise development. She also played for the college football team alongside fellow Sunderland and international teammate

Carly Telford Carly Mitchell Telford (born 7 July 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for San Diego Wave and the England national team. Club career Telford joined Leeds United Ladies in 2007 from relegated club Sunderland. In May of t ...

. After completing her diploma, both Scott and Telford enrolled at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

to study sport.

Club career

Sunderland

Scott began her senior career with Sunderland Women. In October 2005, aged only 18 years, she won the Women's Player of the Month award for September, based on her performances for both her club and country (at under-19 level).

Everton

Scott joined Everton Ladies in July 2006, having turned down an approach from

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

. Her first game for Everton came the following month, a 3–0 defeat against

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

in the FA Women's Community Shield. At the end of the 2007–08 season she picked up the FA Tesco Players' Player of the Year award. Also nominated were

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

's Alex Scott and

Karen Carney Karen Julia Carney (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football on Sky Sports and Amazon Prime, includi ...

. In April 2012 Scott was appointed as one of eight digital media ambassadors, one from each team, who wear their

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account name on their shirt sleeves to raise the profile of the WSL. Scott decided to leave Everton at the end of the 2013 season. During her first spell at Everton, Scott won the

and the

, playing in both finals.

Manchester City

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After leaving Everton, Scott signed a two-year deal with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. This move proved a success, as she played her part in securing the Continental Cup Trophy for Manchester City in 2014. In April 2015, Scott was shown the

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

and banned for three matches for headbutting Arsenal's Jade Bailey during Manchester City's 1–0 defeat. In the

2017 FA Cup Final The 2017 FA Cup Final was an association football match between London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea on 27 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 136th FA Cup final overall of English football's primary cup competition, the Foot ...

Scott scored in a 4–1 win against Birmingham City. In June 2020, Scott signed a new two-year contract which saw her take up a coaching role at the club. At the

2020 Women's FA Community Shield The 2020 Women's FA Community Shield was the ninth Women's FA Community Shield, and the first after the competition's revival following an eleven-season abeyance. As with its male equivalent, the Community Shield is an annual football match play ...

on 29 August 2020, Scott was shown a red card for two bookable offences in Manchester City's scrappy 2–0 defeat by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Return to Everton (loan)

On 21 January 2021, Scott returned to Everton on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.

Aston Villa (loan)

On 25 January 2022, Scott signed for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on loan until the end of the season. On 23 August 2022, Scott announced her retirement from football.

International career

England

At junior level, Scott played for the England Under-19s side, scoring three times in three games as England won through the first round of qualifying for the 2006 UEFA Under-19s tournament. Her first call-up to the England senior squad came in May 2006, having captained the Under-19s side for the previous 18 months. She made her debut for the

senior team against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in August 2006, coming on as a late substitute for

Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal Ladies. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally ...

in a 4–0 win. She made the squad for the 2007 World Cup, coming on as a substitute in England's opening match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She went on to start the remainder of England's matches in the tournament, scoring her first international goal in the 6–1 demolition of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the group stage. England bowed out at the quarter-final stage after a 3–0 defeat against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In May 2009, Scott was one of the first 17 female players to be given central contracts by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

. She was named in coach

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...

's squad for the 2009 UEFA Women's European Championships, scoring a late winner as England beat the Netherlands in the semi-final, having come on as a substitute for Jessica Clarke at the beginning of extra-time. At the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

, Scott scored against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in England's 2–1 group B win. She put England ahead against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the quarter final, but did not take a penalty in her team's 3–4

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

defeat following a 1–1 draw. In February 2019, Scott pulled out of the England squad for the

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

. Scott was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to women's football. On 23 February 2021, Scott made her 150th appearance for the England team in a game against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

which she would captain and play the whole 90 minutes as England would win 6–0. In June 2022 Scott was included in the England squad which won the

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEF ...

. On 23 August 2022, Scott announced her retirement from football, a day after England and Manchester City teammate Ellen White did. Scott retired as England's second-most capped international footballer (men and women), behind

Fara Williams Fara Tanya Franki Merrett MBE (born 25 January 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a central midfielder for multiple clubs, as well as the English national team. A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was co ...

Great Britain

In June 2012, Scott was named in an 18–player

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

squad for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2021, Scott was announced as one of the 22 player squad for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Personal life

In March 2020, she announced her engagement to long-term partner Shelly Unitt. Scott sometimes works at Boxx2Boxx Coffee, a coffee shop in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

owned by Unitt. In November 2022, Scott won the 22nd series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' and was crowned 'Queen of the Jungle'.

Career statistics

Club

International

;International goals :''Scores and results list England or Great Britain's goal tally first''

Coaching career

In September 2008, Scott was appointed as the coach of the Women's Football Academy at Gateshead College, with former

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

manager Mick Tait taking over as coach of the Men's Academy.

Honours

Everton *

: 2007–08 *

: 2009–10 Manchester City *

FA WSL Cup The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pr ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, 2018–19 *

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20 England *

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

third place:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

; runner-up:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in th ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Arnold Clark Cup The Arnold Clark Cup is an invitational women's association football tournament hosted by The Football Association, starting in 2022. It is named after car retailer Arnold Clark, who signed a multi-year sponsorship deal. ITV acts as the competiti ...

Individual *

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

(announced 1 August 2022)

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester City F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Jill 1987 births Living people English women's footballers Lesbian sportswomen British LGBT footballers English LGBT sportspeople Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies players Everton F.C. (women) players Aston Villa W.F.C. players England women's international footballers FA Women's National League players People educated at Monkwearmouth School Alumni of Loughborough University Women's Super League players Footballers from Sunderland Olympic women's footballers of Great Britain Manchester City W.F.C. players Women's association football midfielders FIFA Century Club 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Members of the Order of the British Empire UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Championship-winning players UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) winners