Jill Scott MBE On Racism, Progress, And The Future Of Women’s Football

Jill, last time we spoke, we discussed how football has got a lot more progressive since you started professionally over 30 years ago; however, we’ve seen players like Jess Carter have to step away from social media due to racism received online. We’ve made progress with the fans, broadcasting and increasing players’ pay, but as the sport grows bigger, so does the hate. How can we begin to rectify the abuse players may receive online? 

I think when I spoke to you for the Champions League final, I was doing campaigns with Heineken, and I think doing some great work around kind of different aspects of the women’s game. At that point, we were doing a sexism campaign, and really just highlighting how the women’s game can get a lot of negativity on social media. 

Now, Jess Carter’s situation has really made me sad, not just as a footballer but as a human being. This is a player who has gone on to represent their country, made their family so proud and had that dream from being a little girl to play football for England, and she’s done it so well, to then getting racist messages online has just been heartbreaking. So we know a lot of work has to be done. I think these social media platforms need to put things in place where these messages can’t filter through. Jess has made a stance now and said, “I’m coming off social media”, but should she have to do that? No. This is something we all need to get better at. I always say we can keep pushing, we can keep trying to make things better, but I think this is where we realise we need to do more.

I’m hoping Jess can keep playing football with a smile on her face because even though there are people out there saying these things, I know there are a lot of people who support and respect her and think she’s a great player.

I think it’s been great to see the other teams in, regardless of whether you’re supporting England, everyone’s been rallying behind them to make sure that Jess knows that she’s supported

Yeah, definitely. I think people can’t believe that these things are still happening, but the reality is that they are, and they are things that we need to address. This is where the footballing world comes together and tries to get messages out there. For Jess to come out and speak about it will definitely help the next generation of players, and I think she’s been very brave to do that. As you see, our teammates are backing her, the fans are backing her, and that’s not just of her country, but all other nations as well.