Alex Scott ‘to Replace Dan Walker’ As Football Focus Presenter

Alex Scott is the favourite to be named as the new host of the BBC’s long-running football magazine show Football Focus, according to multiple reports.

The presenter and pundit, who has also hosted the Sport Industry Awards, has been touted to become the first full-time female host of the show when the broadcaster announces its replacement for current presenter Dan Walker, who will step down from the role at the end of the season.

Walker has hosted the show for 12 years, and although he will step back from Football Focus, he will remain with the BBC where he also presents its flagship morning news programme BBC Breakfast and for BBC Sport. He will also be on duty at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer.

Commenting on the news, Walker said that the BBC will announce the new presenter ‘before the season ends’ and may even break the news on the show itself.

“On the rumours of a ‘first female host’,” Walker said in a tweet, “it’s worth noting that [Celina Hinchcliffe], [Eilidh Barbour] and [Seema Jaswal] have all done a brilliant job on it in the past.”

Scott, who has often featured on the show as a pundit as well as on various other football broadcasts across the BBC and Sky Sports, also hosted the Sport Industry Awards 2019, as well as the 2020 version of the Awards, which was hosted online for the first time.