I’m A Celeb: Jill Scott recalls abuse from other parents when starting out in football

Former Lioness Jill Scott has spoken candidly about the bullying she suffered when she was starting out in football.

The top England footballer spoke about her experience of playing football as a young girl with her fellow I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! contestants.

The former Manchester City midfielder revealed that she started playing football at just five-years-old and that while other children were supportive, their parents could be “mean”.

“[I was] playing in the schoolyard with the boys… I didn’t realise until a couple of weeks in that I was the only girl doing it,” she told Loose Women host Charlene White and A Place In The Sun presenter Scarlette Douglas.

“Even my grandma said, on my Christening day, my legs were like this [mimed kicking] the whole time… my grandma reckons she said, ‘She’s going to be a footballer’.”

The 35-year-old added that parents of children on opposing teams would verbally abuse her when she first started out.

“Along the way I had to put up with a few mean comments from the parents and stuff like that,” she revealed.

“If I beat their precious son, they’d shout stuff at us, like, ‘Kick her, hack her down’… I’d come off the pitch literally in tears”.

In response, White told Scott that her young daughter now plays the sport, citing the Lionesses’ victory in the Euro 2022 championship as a “massive inspiration” for girls.

“Now, knowing that her [White’s] young daughter won’t have to face that stuff… she’s on the start of that journey and it can be an amazing one for her,” said Scott.

The Sunderland native’s career highlights including winning the Women's Super League title with Manchester City in 2017, scoring England's winner against Holland in the Euro 2009 semi-finals, and representing Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

The sportswoman was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours, for services to women's football.