Jill Scott couldn’t help but poke fun at Jamie Redknapp as a statue of the Lioness legend was unveiled.
Scott, who played 161 times for England, was confirmed as the new blue team captain on Sky hit show, A League Of Their Own, where she’ll be facing off against the former Liverpool man, while also working alongside Micah Richards and comedian Romesh Ranganathan.
4
4
As part of her unveiling, Scott was immortalised in bronze to celebrate her football achievements.
Standing at 4.5 metres tall, the statue shows former Man City midfielder Scott with her arms spread in a copy of her famous celebration from the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 success at Wembley Stadium.
Even more poignantly, it is situated just a stone’s throw from the famous Angel Of The North in Gateshead, the town in the north east where Scott made her first strides as a budding young footballer.
The statue is set to stay in Gateshead for seven days before being shipped to London for filming of the Sky series, before permanently being homed in a location of Scott’s choosing.
Speaking to talkSPORT.com, Scott said: “Honestly, I can’t believe it.
“I just keep looking at it and thinking ‘is she alright, does she need a coffee’, but no, it’s just such a special day for me and my family.
“I just can’t believe I’ve got a statue, surely this is just for important people!”
And the fighting talk started straight away.
4
Asked if she had a message for Redknapp, Scott said: “I think he’ll give me some fighting talk, but I’ve been given a statue and he hasn’t!
Scott’s competitive spirit was evident during last summer’s Euros when she launched into an outburst on Germany’s Sydney Lohmann and you didn’t need to be a lip reader to know what she screamed.
“I think we’ll both be very competitive – when you’re an ex-athlete you can’t get rid of that but I’m sure we’ll have lots of laughs as well,” she added.
“On a serious note, it’s just an absolute honour for me to be joining such an iconic show, A League Of Their Own.”
Scott left City in 2022 after eight years of success. She later played for Everton and Aston Villa before retiring.
Her new role comes after she was crowned Queen of the jungle in last year’s series of ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here’, while also recently being team captain at Soccer Aid.
