Jill Scott joins A League Of Their Own

A mini Angel Of The North marks Lioness's new job as team captain

Jill Scott has been named as the new team captain on Sky’s sports-based panel show A League Of Their Own.

The news was broken with a publicity stunt in which a four-metre bronze statue of the former England footballer was temporarily erected in the shadow of the Angel Of The North in Gateshead.

Returning for the new, 18th, series are host Romesh Ranganathan, captain of the red team Jamie Redknapp and regular blue team panellist Micah Richards.

Before the new series starts, Scott takes part in a League Of Their Own special with Katherine Ryan and Maisie Adam, as Chortle revealed last week.

The 500kg statue to defender Scott – also Queen of the Jungle after winning the last series of I’m A celebrity – was unveiled yesterday by the Mayor of Gateshead and players from Gateshead College and Boldon Girls, Scott’s former teams.

She racked up 161 England caps and 27 international goals in her career and the statue has its arms outstretched, recreating the moment she celebrated the 2-1 victory against Germany at Wembley to take the Euros title last year. It will stay in place until July 9 when it moves – to opposing team captain Jamie Redknapp’s back garden.

Scott said: ‘It’s not every day you get to unveil a giant statue of yourself. It’s massive and incredibly lifelike. I could have done with those few extra feet back in my playing days!

‘But the crowning glory for me? It’s got to be seeing Rom and Jamie’s faces when this lands on their doorstep in London - the banter has already started and I know I will get a lot of stick when I kick off my tenure as a team captain.’

She takes the place of Freddie Flintoff, who stood aside in 2021 to be replaced by guest captains in last year’s series.

Ranganathan added: ‘It’s brilliant to be able to welcome Jill Scott, a legend of the game and national treasure, to the A League of Their Own family as a new team captain. And with her own statue almost as bronze as Jamie Redknapp.’

Scott also appeared on Good Morning Britain today to reveal she would be reporting on the upcoming Women’s World Cup for ITV.

Thanks for reading. If you find Chortle’s coverage of the comedy scene useful or interesting, please consider supporting us with a monthly or one-off ko-fi donation.

Any money you contribute will directly fund more reviews, interviews and features – the sort of in-depth coverage that is increasingly difficult to fund from ever-squeezed advertising income, but which we think the UK’s vibrant comedy scene deserves.

Subscribe or donate here

Published: 4 Jul 2023