Soccer Aid: Jill Scott will captain the England football team with Gary Neville, Mo Farah, and Paul Scholes

Who better to lead the England side to potential victory in this year’s Soccer Aid than a former Lioness and Queen of the Jungle, Jill Scott?

The I’m A Celebrity champion, who recently has been named to coach the Youth Squad at Manchester City, has been announced as the skipper of the English team for the world’s biggest charity football match.

The England side has not won the UNICEF event since 2018 when they narrowly beat the World XI FC by one penalty.

Jill was selected out of a host of Soccer Aid professionals such as Gary Neville, Mo Farah and Paul Scholes, who will all be playing for the trophy in June against the World side, captained by Usain Bolt for the fifth time.

While Bolt has bolted five Soccer Aid matches and three wins under his belt, Jill Scott is coming off the back of a string of accolades including winning the North East Personality of the Year and being a part of the Sports Personality Team of the Year for the Lionesses’ triumph at the Euros; meaning she has a wealth of experience heading into the UNICEF match.

The charity match is being held at Manchester United’s Old Trafford this year, which could also stand in good stead for Sunderland’s Jill Scott as she picked up many wins at the grounds throughout her 18-year career, many of which were with the Red Devil’s opponents Manchester City.

It must be noted that Man United is also Usain Bolt’s favourite football team, therefore the energy at the grounds will be immense, matching that of the 74,000 expected spectators.

Looking ahead, Jill Scott said: “The Euros, The Jungle and now Soccer Aid for UNICEF – it’s the holy trinity. I’ve won two of them, so I just need Soccer Aid now to complete ‘the treble’. I think of all three, this might be the one I’m most nervous about, though – just look at the names involved!”

Jill, who retired from the professional sport last year, is being joined by three other former England internationals in their Soccer Aid debut this summer, including Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, ex-Lioness Karen Carney and Chelsea’s Champion League champ Gary Cahill.

Joining the likes of Sir Mo Farah and Gary Neville on the England side are Paddy McGuinness in goal, DJ Joel Corry and Jermain Defoe, while Vicky McClure and Emma Hayes will co-manage.

Alongside Jill’s captaincy, the female representation on the home team is brilliant ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March. 

Although Jill becomes the first female to captain a side at the charity match, there were eight women involved in last year’s event including Maya Jama and Alex Scott on commentary and Chelcee Grimes on the pitch, making an impressive jump from the two female players who broke the mould in 2019 (Rachel Yankey and Katie Chapman).

Jill Scott is becoming quite the pioneer for women in sport after speaking about it in the jungle on ITV as she not only will captain Soccer Aid but as mentioned, will coach the Youth Team at Manchester City from this year.

You can watch Soccer Aid on 11 June on ITV.