Jill Scott reveals 'guilt' after missing first dance at sister's wedding for football match

Jill Scott has revealed that she missed the first dance at her sister’s wedding to travel to an FA Cup semi-final match. The former Lioness said she feels guilty for the sacrifices her family made during her football career.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, host Lauren Laverne asked about the personal sacrifices that were made for her to play at the top level in women’s football.

The former England midfielder said sacrifices were really made by her family rather than herself "because I got to go and live my best life playing football".

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“I have been absent from a lot of things," Jill, 36, explained. “My sister’s wedding, I remember going to the wedding and the first dance was about to happen. I had to leave because I had an FA Cup semi-final the next day in London, I had drive from Sunderland to London, still had the hairpins in, I think I still had my bridesmaid dress on, so for me not to be there for her first dance and to just leave the wedding."

She added: “They’ve always been so supportive and I still feel this massive, like, amount of guilt. Maybe the sacrifice wasn’t with me. It was more my family."

She also spoke about sacrifices she made when she first signed for Everton, making the six-hour round trip from her home in Sunderland to Merseyside three times a week. “It was difficult in terms of there was a lot of sofa surfing if we had a game the next day, but what I formed (was) the best friendships," she said. "We’ve still got a group now."

Jill told the programme: “I was up and down the motorway probably three times a week just trying to find somewhere to sleep. I was working at Gateshead college, I’d