From a Champions League winner to a pioneering pundit, Alex Scott is one of football’s most eminent figures. 

Having created history both on and off the pitch, the former Arsenal and England defender has transformed the perception of how female footballers are regarded and enhanced the level of respect for the women’s game. 

With 24 trophies across a professional career that spanned more than 15 years, Scott is undisputedly an all-time great. But amid all her success as a player, her influence within the broadcasting world is now held in equally high regard. 

GiveMeSport looks at Scott’s remarkable journey, from an aspiring forward to a history-making presenter. 

A Gunners great 

In 1992, Scott signed with Arsenal, aged just eight. At this stage, the Gunners icon operated as either a striker or a winger but was soon converted to a full-back ––  a position she would go on to master. 

Initially, the defender struggled for game-time and failed to cement her place in a Gunners side already stacked with talent. 

A loan move to Birmingham in 2004 proved to be a turning point, however, as a 20-year-old Scott helped the Midlands side to a fourth-place finish. 

Upon her return to North London, the right-back became an indispensable part of Vic Akers’ squad, where a multitude of silverware soon followed. 

It was the 2006-07 season that will live long in the memory. Akers’ side achieved an unprecedented “quadruple” season in which they won every competition they entered, most notably the 2006-07 UEFA Women’s Cup –– commonly known now as the Women’s Champions League. 

Back then the final was contested over two legs, and it was Scott who came up with the decisive goal in stoppage time of the first tie –– a strike that proved to be the only goal of the entire contest. 

While the following season brought another league and FA Cup double, 2009 then saw the USA come calling. The lure of playing in America proved too much for Scott to turn down, and she left the Gunners to join the Boston Breakers in the inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Soccer league. 

Scott was a regular starter at Boston but the side failed to win any silverware in its first three seasons before the WPS eventually collapsed.

As she sought to add to her trophy cabinet, a move back to Arsenal then manifested, and Scott joined Boston teammate Kelly Smith in rejoining the Gunners. 

At this stage, Arsenal were still the leading team in domestic English football and a sixth league title soon followed in 2012. 

Two years later, the defender was named captain for the 2014-15 season, though she did not feature in the Gunners League Cup win. 

By the time the 2017/18 season had come to an end, Scott had made up her mind to retire. In truth, the Arsenal star was seemingly more than capable of carrying on, but the ambitious full-back had other goals on her mind –– chiefly, becoming a broadcaster. 

A Lionesses legend 

Though Scott never won a major trophy with England, her international career lasted 13 years and she remains the Lionesses' fourth-most capped player of all time, with 140 appearances. 

Her first two international goals came in a 13-0 demolition of Hungary in a 2007 World Cup qualifier and she would go on to score 12 goals for England in total. 

There was some silverware to celebrate as the Lionesses won the Cyprus Cup on three occasions in 2009, 2013 and 2015. But ultimately, Scott will look back on both the 2009 World Championships and the 2015 World Cup, with a sense of ‘what if.’ 

At the 2009 Euros, England made the final against Germany. Scott started the match, alongside the likes of Fara Williams, Karen Carney and Smith, yet the Lionesses were beaten 6-2 by a mightily impressive German side. 

Six years later, Scott helped England get to the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup, where they lost to eventual runners-up Japan. 

In 2017, Scott retired from international duty and was awarded an MBE in the 2017 New Year’s honours list for her services to football. 

A figurehead for female pundits 

Though a lot of former footballers make the leap from playing to the media, Scott was one of the first women to do so and became the first female pundit at a World Cup when she was part of BBC’s coverage in 2018. 

The former footballer has been open about the sexist abuse she has suffered online because of her role as a pundit, but her bravery in speaking out has inspired many of her other former teammates, including Eni Aluko and Carney to delve into a media career as well. 

After providing insight on the Premier League, Scott became the first female pundit for Sky Sports in 2018 and also featured regularly on Match of the Day. 

But this was only the start of Scott’s media journey as a presenting career beckoned. In May 2021, she was announced as the new presenter of Football Focus, after Dan Walker stepped down. 

Alongside this, she fronted the BBC’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics, alongside Claire Balding. 

Eloquent, charismatic and confident, Scott possesses all the natural qualities of a presenter in abundance and has obtained a media degree from Staffordshire University in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting.

To this day, this makes her one of the very few football show hosts to have both a professional playing background and a university qualification. 

Still only 37, Scott is continuing to make strides in the broadcasting world. Having risen above the negativity and criticism that’s come her way, she is universally respected as a footballing legend, a presenting prodigy and, above all, a trailblazer for women’s sport.