Harriet Scott interview: ‘Football is one of the best jobs in the world. So life will feel very odd without it’

When the class of 2023′s medical students graduated from Keele University in Staffordshire during the summer, one of the group had a reasonable enough excuse for being absent. She was, after all, 10,000 miles away at the time, on World Cup duty with the Republic of Ireland.

“I knew there would be a collision between the two from a long way off, but proud as I was to be graduating, I wasn’t going to miss the World Cup,” says Harriet Scott. “My team-mates were fantastic. They threw me an impromptu graduation in Australia, it was very kind – and really funny. A lovely moment.”

Less than a week after she returned from Australia, the newly qualified doctor was on duty in a respiratory ward in a NHS hospital in Liverpool, but this time there’ll be no double-jobbing, the 30-year-old having decided that it was time to retire from football.

I think there were things that we could have done better, but we have to remember that it was our first major tournament

After completing her five years of medical studies, having already earned a degree in physiotherapy, Scott opted to hang up her boots, combining professional football with her new career simply impossible.

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“Medicine is a full-time degree and with Birmingham City I was a full-time athlete as well, so I was trying to balance the two. And with international duty on top, it was difficult. I was burning both ends of the candle.

“I went through a lot of emotions for the last six months to a year. I spent a long time thinking about things. It’s really exciting for me to finally get working in the area I’ve been studying for what feels like forever now, but then stepping away from football is very, very sad too.

“Because football is one of the best jobs in the world. It’s so much fun. So life will feel very odd without it. I’ve played football since I could probably walk. I haven’t had a weekend without football during a season for as long as I can remember. So yeah, that will be a definite transition for me.

“But it’s just the right time. I’m ready to move on to a new phase. It just was never going to be possible to combine the two, especially with working night shifts and not having control over your annual leave or your rota. It had to be one or the other. And it just didn’t make sense to me to step back in to full-time football again and put my medical career on hold.

“I have a love for the medical profession, and at the same time I just didn’t see a big future in playing longer. I’m very, very fortunate that I’ve not had major injuries. I want to be able to do things in five, 10, 15, 20 years time, so I haven’t broken my body by playing longer than I should have. And I’m happy to have had control over when I stepped away, because that’s not something most players get to do.”

I’m ready to move on to a new phase. It just was never going to be possible to combine the two

The international side of her football career didn’t finish up quite as she would have wished, Scott missing out on Vera Pauw’s 23-player World Cup squad, but making the trip as one of three training players. That meant she had to do all the hard work, but was never going to get the chance to play in the tournament.

“It was disappointing, of course. I played the second half against Zambia in Tallaght [in the penultimate warm-up game before the squad left for Australia] and I thought I performed well, but you have to respect a manager’s decision. As soon as I got the news, my next focus was making sure I was ready to take on the challenge of being a training player. I wanted to be on that plane more than anything.

“And I was very grateful to be on that plane, lots of players didn’t make it so I felt fortunate. And once we got there, I was well aware of my role, to support my team-mates, challenge them as much as I could to make sure we were prepared for the games. I got the same experience as them by being at the World Cup, I just wasn’t able to contribute on the pitch.”

Like the rest of her team-mates when asked about the manager’s future, Scott is non-committal – “I wouldn’t be able to comment on that, I don’t know anything about the situation at the moment” – but she reflects positively on the team’s efforts.

“I think there were things that we could have done better, but we have to remember that it was our first major tournament. We really pushed three very, very good teams, and knowing that we are capable of that will stand to us in the future. I was proud of them, and especially proud seeing our flag in front of 70,000-plus at the opening game and hearing our anthem, that is something I will never forget.”

It’s really exciting for me to finally get working in the area I’ve been studying for what feels like forever now, but then stepping away from football is very, very sad too

Born in Reading, where she began her career with her local club before moving on to Birmingham City, Scott qualified to play for Ireland through three of her grandparents. She was part of the under-17 squad that reached the final of the 2010 European Championships and was given her senior debut by Colin Bell in 2017, winning the Republic of Ireland player of the year award that year. But since then her studies limited her playing opportunities, the defender finishing up on 24 caps, just five of them won under Pauw.

“But when I had to step away through the years, I always missed it and hoped that I could be more involved. I guess the absolute pinnacle was being involved in that World Cup squad and getting on that plane to Australia. For as long as I can remember, that’s what we’d been trying to achieve. So I was honoured that I was anywhere near it. For me, that’s probably a really good way to end my international career.

“I just feel blessed that I was able to combine for so long two parts of my life that I love so much, and if anyone ever needs advice on doing that – and it is doable – I hope they reach out to me. More than anything, I’m grateful for all the friends I made along the way, they are the most valuable part of my football journey. But yeah, time to move on now to a new phase of my life.”