Alex Scott to become first full-time female host of Football Focus

[ASFN Admin]

Alex Scott is close to being named the first full-time female host of Football Focus. A source with knowledge of the recruitment process said it was “highly likely” Scott would succeed Dan Walker, who announced last week he was quitting at the end of the season after 12 years in the role. Walker said on Wednesday that the new host could be named on the show itself in the coming weeks. A BBC spokesman said: “An announcement on the new presenter will be made in due course.” Former Arsenal captain and England centurion Scott has been a pundit for the BBC and others since retiring three years ago but has also been groomed for a presenting role by the corporation. In the past year she has co-hosted The One Show, Sport Relief and Children in Need but Football Focus would be her first major solo job. The 36-year-old was last year touted as a replacement for Sue Barker as the presenter of A Question of Sport, with Gary Lineker reacting to reports that was poised to get the job by tweeting: “Congratulations and good luck to @AlexScott on being the new host for Question Of Sport. Smart, knowledgeable and perfectly qualified for the role. Oh... and if you have a problem with Alex getting the job, you might just be part of the problem.” Being linked with the role resulted in Scott being abused on social media, to which she responded by posting a poem on Instagram she had originally made for International Women’s Day 2018. It read: I was that girl that played football, I really didn’t care. I was that girl that played football, long brown hair. I was that girl that played football, with no regards to the colour of my skin. I was that girl that played football because I always wanted to win. I retired from football with medals and honours galore. I retired from football to open a new door. I now talk about football live on your TV. Some want to say I’m ticking a box, but that’s not me. Football is football and that’s what I see. Hi, Hello, I’m Alex Scott and you know what, football is me.” She later spoke to This City podcast about receiving death and rape threats from trolls. She said: “It was like every day, every day when I was coming off, I was just getting this wave and this wave. And then, like I said, then there were death threats and rape threats. “I live on my own and I’m like, I can’t even… Who can I even speak to about this? I don’t want my mum to worry. I don’t want, like how I said, people to feel like I can’t handle myself or I can’t handle this business because what?” In response to Scott being touted as his replacement, Walker tweeted on Wednesday to applaud the credentials of other female presenters, including Celina Hinchliffe, Eilidh Barbour and Seema Jaswal. He posted: “The BBC will announce the new #FootballFocus presenter before the season ends. We might even do it in the show On the rumours of a ‘first female host’... it’s worth noting that @CHinchcliffeTV @EilidhBarbour & @seemajaswal have all done a brilliant job on it in the past.”

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