Alex Scott (footballer, Born 1984)
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Alexandra Virina Scott (born 14 October 1984) is an English sports presenter, pundit and former
professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a profes ...
who played as a
right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
. She has been the current presenter of ''
Football Focus ''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974, broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. The programme, along with '' Final Score'', is a remnant from the former flagship sports show ...
'' since 2021. At club level, Scott has had three separate spells with
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 ...
, punctuated with a season at
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
in the 2004–05 season and three years in the American
Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...
(WPS) with the
Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...
. She scored the winning goal for Arsenal in the 2007 UEFA Women's Cup final. At international level, she made 140 appearances for the England national team and represented
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Scott was inducted to the
English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
in 2019, and was inducted to the WSL Hall of Fame in 2024. After retirement, Scott went into punditry, simultaneously working for
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
and
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
. In this role, she covered the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
and
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
. Scott also began co-presenting shows such as ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...
'' and ''
Goals on Sunday ''Goals on Sunday'' is a British football discussion television programme on Sky Sports that shows highlights and analysis of the Premier League, Scottish Premiership and Football League Championship matches, broadcast between 2000 and 2020. T ...
'', before primarily working for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, where she became co-host of the annual Sports Personality of the Year ceremony and presented coverage of the
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
. In 2021, she was named the main presenter of ''Football Focus'', succeeding Dan Walker.


Early life

Alexandra Virina Scott was born on 14 October 1984 in Poplar, London, to a British mother with
Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
, English and
Lithuanian-Jewish {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...
heritage and a Jamaican father. During the filming of the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' in 2021, she discovered that her maternal great-grandfather was
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and opposed fascism in East London, and that her four times great-grandfather was a black man who owned twenty-six slaves. Scott attended Langdon Park School which has been granted
Sports College Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled sec ...
status. In 2022, Scott revealed in her autobiography that she had been a victim of
domestic abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...
from her father during her childhood; she pledged that all proceeds from her book would go to help women affected by similar abuse.


Club career


Start in England

Scott signed on with
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 ...
in 1992, at the age of eight. After breaking into the first team as a striker or right winger, she was later converted to full-back. Scott remained with Arsenal until the 2004–05 season, after which she moved to
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
. With the addition of Scott, the club finished fourth in the
FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division, 1991 until 2009–10 FA Women's Premier League, 2010, the ...
. 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 The FA Women's National League is a group of six Association football, football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Footba ...
and
FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup 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 (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...
. 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 The UEFA Women's Cup 2006–07 was the sixth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football (soccer), football club tournament (since rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League). 43 teams from 42 football associations took part, starting with the fi ...
. Arsenal were the first ever British side to win the competition, with Scott scoring the only goal in the
two-legged tie In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...
with
Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a women's professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football cl ...
. 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

Upon the creation of a new women's league in the United States,
Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...
, it was announced on 25 September 2008 that her WPS playing rights had been assigned to the
Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...
, whose head coach was former Arsenal assistant
Emma Hayes Emma Carol Hayes (born 18 October 1976) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of the United States women's national team. She was previously manager of Chelsea Women from 2012 to 2024, winning seven Women's Super ...
. Her rights were traded on 15 January 2009 to the
Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...
and it was announced on 6 February 2009 that she would be leaving Arsenal to join up with her new team. In the inaugural
2009 Women's Professional Soccer season The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on March 29 and ended on August 9, with the postseason being held ...
, Scott played in 17 games for the Breakers. She scored one goal and added one assist. In
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, Scott featured in 21 games and registered two assists. She started 14 of her 15 matches in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. In December 2011, Scott returned to Arsenal on
loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...
for the duration of a three-match pre-season tour of Japan.


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 Breakers teammate
Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally with ...
. Scott was named captain for the 2014–15 season. She did not take part in the 2015 FA WSL Cup final, where Arsenal beat
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
. In the following season, Scott helped take Arsenal to the 2016 FA Women's Cup final against Chelsea, which the ''Gunners'' won 1–0. Scott played her last game on 12 May 2018 against
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
, which Arsenal won 2–1.


International career


England

Scott competed at the U19 and U21 levels for
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, including at the
2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship The 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship was held from 17 August to 1 September. It was the first sanctioned youth tournament for women put together by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada. FIFA granted the tournament to Canada in March ...
in Canada. Scott made her full debut against the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
on 18 September 2004. She played in the
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
,
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
and
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
editions of the
UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...
, as well as the
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
s. She won silver at the 2009 UEFA Women's Euros and bronze at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. In November 2014, Scott headed powerfully past her own goalkeeper to give
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
the lead in England's crushing 3–0 defeat at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
. 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. Scott was allotted 155 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England's inaugural international.


Great Britain

In June 2012, Scott was named in the 18-player
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
squad for the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, where the British team finished 5th.


Media career

Scott began her media career while still playing football, appearing on programmes such as ''
Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' was a British football-based comedy talk show, produced by Sky Sports. It aired from 20 August 1994 to 27 May 2023 on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football. From 2010, the programme was put on a short b ...
'', with other minor roles at
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
,
BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
, and
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
. She wrote a weekly women's football column in the '' Morning Star'' newspaper, and a column in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' during the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...
. In 2016, she appeared in
Bear Grylls Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (; born 7 June 1974) is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former Special Air Service, SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of notable ...
' ITV show, '' Mission Survive'', which she won. Following her retirement in 2017, Scott turned her focus full-time to television broadcasting, co-presenting on ''
Match of the Day Kickabout A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
''. She became well known to a wider audience when she covered the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
, becoming the first female football pundit at a World Cup for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. 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. She covered the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
for the BBC. In August 2019, Scott was announced as the new co-host of Sky Sports' ''
Goals on Sunday ''Goals on Sunday'' is a British football discussion television programme on Sky Sports that shows highlights and analysis of the Premier League, Scottish Premiership and Football League Championship matches, broadcast between 2000 and 2020. T ...
'', alongside
Chris Kamara Christopher Kamara (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional footballer and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022. As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. He joi ...
. Since 2020, Scott has been a regular co-host on the annual
BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just a single award of the same name. Several new awards have been introduced, and cu ...
ceremony. Scott is also a relief guest presenter on ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...
''. In September 2019, Scott was a contestant on the 17th series of ''
Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'', paired with professional dancer Neil Jones. She was the first woman footballer to take part in the show. The couple were eliminated in week 11, coming fifth. Scott has spoken out repeatedly about the sexist abuse she frequently receives on social media because of her role as a football pundit. In May 2021, Scott was announced as the new presenter of ''
Football Focus ''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974, broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. The programme, along with '' Final Score'', is a remnant from the former flagship sports show ...
'', after Dan Walker's decision to step down. In July 2021, Scott was announced as the host of a new BBC daytime quiz show, '' The Tournament'', which began airing in November. That same month (July), Scott was announced as a commentator for the
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
game '' FIFA 22''. She was a main presenter for the BBC's coverage of the
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
, alongside
Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...
, presenting coverage of the Opening and Closing ceremonies and a nightly highlights show. Scott participated in the eighteenth series of the ancestry research programme '' Who Do You Think You Are?''; her episode aired on 26 October 2021. Shortly after seven European national football associations announced that they were asking their captains not to wear the pro-LGBTQ+ OneLove armband at the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
, due to a threat of sporting sanctions from FIFA, Scott wore the armband while reporting on the
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
match on 21 November. On 10 March 2023, following the suspension of
Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
as the host of ''Match of the Day'' for allegedly breaching BBC impartiality rules by criticising the government's asylum policy on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, Scott sent a
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
meme titled "nah not me" to indicate she would not present the following episode of the show in solidarity with Lineker. In June 2023, Scott was featured in the national ad for messaging platform
WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
. In the campaign titled ''A Private Message'', Scott starred opposite ''
Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...
'' actor
Karen Johal Karen Johal (born 13 March 1991) is a British actress of Indian descent. She is best known for playing Nicole Shelley on season 3 of the Apple TV+ television series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020). She gained further recognition for her portrayal of Noreen ...
. WhatsApp used Scott to help promote their new secure messaging services.


Personal life

In 2011, Scott founded 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. While playing for
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 ...
, Scott completed a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting at the
Staffordshire University The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and London. History In 1901, industrialist Alfred ...
. She received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...
in 2021, and an honorary fellowship from the
Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...
. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) in the
2017 New Year Honours The 2017 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 were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
for services to football, she invited her mother, grandmother and niece to her investiture at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
and surprised her family with afternoon tea at The Ritz. Her memoir ''How (Not) To Be Strong'' was published on 29 September 2022. Scott and former partner and teammate
Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally with ...
shared a house in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
. The pair were teammates in America while both played for the Boston Breakers. Both returned to England to play for Arsenal together in 2012, after the collapse of their American league. In her memoir, Scott confirmed that she and Smith were a couple from 2005 to 2013. While she says she fell "madly and deeply in love" with Smith, Scott has not explicitly labelled her
sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
and has said she has been in relationships with both men and women. Scott has been in a relationship with singer
Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is a British singer. She rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles " Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, both of which reached number one on the UK Singles C ...
since the summer of 2023.


Career statistics


International

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Scott goal.''


Honours

Arsenal *
FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...
:
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
* FA WSL Cup: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018 *
FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League is a group of six Association football, football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Footba ...
: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 *
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 *
FA Women's Premier League Cup The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual England, English women's association football, football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, Women's Football Association (WFA). The 1991–92 WFA Women's National L ...
: 2006–07, 2008–09 *
Women's FA Community Shield The Women's FA Community Shield was an association football competition in England. It was a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It was the first competitive match of the football season. The match ...
:
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
,
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
*
UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. T ...
: 2006–07 England *
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...
third place:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
*
UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...
runner-up:
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
* Cyprus Cup:
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
,
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
Individual * Women's Super League Hall of Fame: 2024 Orders and special awards *
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
:
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) * 2023: The Sport Award


See also

*
List of England women's international footballers This is a list of England women's international footballers – association football players who have played for the England women's national football team. This table takes into account all official England matches. Legacy numbers were intro ...
* List of football personalities with British honours *
List of Strictly Come Dancing contestants The following is a list of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' contestants to date along with their professional partners, and competition finishes. Professional dancers ''Strictly Come Dancing'' has featured 62 professional dancers competing over the ...
*
List of women's footballers with 100 or more international caps This list summarizes women association football players with 100 or more international cap (sport), appearances. As of 30 May 2025, a total of 511 women have played 100 or more international matches for their respective nations. The all-time ...


References


Further reading

* Aluko, Eniola (2019), ''They Don't Teach This'', Random House, * Caudwell, Jayne (2013), ''Women's Football in the UK: Continuing with Gender Analyses'', Taylor & Francis, * Clarke, Gemma (2019), ''Soccerwomen: The Icons, Rebels, Stars, and Trailblazers Who Transformed the Beautiful Game'', * Dunn, Carrie (2016), ''The Roar of the Lionesses: Women's Football in England'', Pitch Publishing Limited, * Dunn, Carrie (2019), ''Pride of the Lionesses: The Changing Face of Women's Football in England'', Pitch Publishing (Brighton) Limited, * Grainey, Timothy (2012), ''Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer'', University of Nebraska Press, * Scott, Alex (2022), ''How (Not) To Be Strong'', Penguin Books,


External links

*
Alex Scott
at TheFA.com (archived)
Alex Scott
at Arsenal.com * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Alex 1984 births 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Arsenal W.F.C. players BBC television presenters Birmingham City W.F.C. players Black British sportswomen Black British television personalities Boston Breakers players England women's international footballers England women's under-23 international footballers English LGBTQ footballers English LGBTQ broadcasters English association football commentators English autobiographers English expatriate women's footballers English game show hosts English people of Northern Ireland descent English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English women's footballers FA Women's National League players FIFA Women's Century Club Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Poplar, London Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Morning Star (British newspaper) journalists Olympic footballers for Great Britain Television personalities from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Women's association football fullbacks Women's Professional Soccer players Women's Super League players LGBTQ memoirists Writers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players 21st-century English sportswomen Alumni of Staffordshire University