Quick Facts
Biography
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.
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 World Cup.
Club career
Start in England
Scott signed on with Arsenal 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. 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
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.
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.
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. 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. In the following season, Scott helped take Arsenal to the final of the 2016 FA Cup vs Chelsea which the Gunners won 1–0. Scott played her last game on 12 May 2018 against Manchester City Women which Arsenal won 2–1.
International career
England
Scott competed at the U19 and U21 levels for England, including at the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada.
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.
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.
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.
Great Britain Olympics
In June 2012, Scott was named in the 18-player Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics.
International goals
- Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 27 October 2005 | Tapolca |  Hungary | 13–0 | 2007 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 2 |
| 3 | 11 May 2006 | St. Mary's, Southampton | Hungary | 2–0 | 2007 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
| 4 | 25 October 2006 | Waldstadion, Ahlen |  Germany | 1–5 | Friendly | 1 |
| 5 | 8 March 2007 | National Hockey Stadium, Milton Keynes |  Russia | 6–0 | Friendly | 1 |
| 6 | 28 January 2007 | Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou |  United States | 1–1 | 2007 Four Nations Tournament | 1 |
| 8 | 27 October 2007 | Bescot Stadium, Walsall |  Belarus | 4–0 | 2009 UEFA Championship Qual. | 2 |
| 9 | 26 November 2009 | Buca Arena, İzmir |  Turkey | 3–0 | 2011 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
| 11 | 1 March 2010 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia |  Italy | 3–2 | Cyprus Cup | 2 |
| 12 | 21 August 2010 | Sepp-Doll-Stadion, Krems |  Austria | 4–0 | 2011 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
Media career
Scott began her media career while still playing football, appearing on programs such as Soccer AM with other minor roles at BBC Sport, BT Sport, and Sky Sports. In 2016 Scott was featured in Bear Grylls' ITV show, Mission Survive where she won.
Following Scott's retirement in 2017, she turned her focus full-time to television broadcasting, co-presenting on Match of the Day Kickabout. 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. 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 for the BBC. In August 2019, Scott was announced as the new co-host of Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday alongside Chris Kamara.
From September 2019Scott was a contestant on the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, paired with professional dancer Neil Jones. The couple were eliminated in week 11, coming 5th.
| Week No. | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revel Horwood | Mabuse | Ballas | Tonioli | ||||
| 1 | Quickstep/ "I Get a Kick Out of You" | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 21 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Cha cha cha / "What I Did for Love" | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 22 | Safe |
| 3 | Rumba/ "How Far I'll Go" | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 23 | Safe |
| 4 | Tango/ "Go Your Own Way" | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 23 | Safe |
| 5 | Charleston / "Pump Up the Jam" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9* | 33 | Safe |
| 6 | Street / "Ghostbusters" | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 34** | Safe |
| 7 | American Smooth / "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31** | Safe |
| 8 | Jive / "Let's Twist Again" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 | Safe |
| 9 | Paso Doble / "Run the World (Girls)" | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 | Safe |
| 10 | Argentine Tango / "Never Tear Us Apart" | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 26 | Safe |
| 11 | Samba / "Joyful Joyful" | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Eliminated |
* Score awarded by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro
** Neil was injured during week 6 rehearsals, so Kevin Clifton danced in his place
Scott has spoken out repeatedly about the sexist abuse she frequently receives on social media because of her role as a football pundit.
Personal life
Scott was born in Poplar, East London and is of Irish mother and Jamaican father. 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. Scott also wrote a weekly women's football column in the Morning Star newspaper.
Scott was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to football.
Honours
Arsenal
- FA Women's Premier League: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
- FA WSL: 2012
- FA WSL Cup: 2012, 2013, 2015
- FA Cup: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
- UEFA Women's Champions League: 2006–07
- FA Women's Community Shield: 2006, 2008
- FA Women's Premier League Cup: 2006–07, 2008–09
England
- Cyprus Cup: 2009, 2013, 2015
- UEFA Women's Championship runner-up: 2009
- FIFA Women's World Cup third place: 2015
