Jill Scott has opened up on the "imposter syndrome" she suffered during the men's World Cup last year.
The former Lionesses' midfielder worked for ITV Sport on punditry duty during the Qatar tournament at the end of 2022, only weeks after she won television reality show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Scott is now set for a coaching role working with academy players at former club Man City, as he continues life after her playing career finished last summer.
During an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap in partnership with SkyBet, Scott revealed how she felt when working alongside Neville and his former Man Utd teammate Roy Keane during the tournament.
“When I was in Qatar," said Scott. "And I saw you [Gary Neville], Roy Keane, I was like ‘right Jill, just fake it’. I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing, it’s people that I grew up watching on the TV and suddenly your life changes and you’re in that position.
"I’ve seen people over the years who aren’t grounded like that and it’s an ugly trait sometimes. You can always be yourself and treat people nice, it doesn’t take much.
"I am a very grounded person. Last year I had so many great things happen, but I’m just little Jill who loved playing football and got bigger.
"I’ve had so many moments where I’ve felt I had imposter syndrome, probably 80 per cent of my life."
Neville was surprised to learn of Scott's interior thoughts asking whether this a confidence issue and also jokingly remarking to her, "you do know you're more famous than us." During the conversation, Scott also spoke of her joy at how the next generation of young females playing football will have greater facilities and the motivation that brought her.
"It was 100% worth suffering every single way we did so that things would be better for the next generation," added Scott. "The biggest thing now standing here is knowing that another young girl who’s maybe five or six won’t have to go through them early in the journey.
"She can just get out her first football boots, get her strips, she can go to football and be happy. She’s not going to get any of that.
"She can speak proudly if someone says to her, ‘girls can’t play football’, she’s got fighting talk and can say, ‘well, did you see them win the UEFA European Women's Championship?’ And that’s honestly what makes us so happy, and I’d go through it all again to make it better for the next generation."
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