Jill Scott delivers verdict on FA speculation that could seriously impact Sunderland and talks Roy Keane

Wearside-born Jill Scott has reacted to speculation that the WSL could become a closed shop without promotion and relegation.

Sunderland are currently in the second tier of women’s football in the United Kingdom, but there has previously been talk that the top tier in the country could become a closed competition, which would harm the Black Cats’ promotion chances in the future.

“Yeah it's a difficult one isn't it I think obviously if you're playing in the leagues below you want that promotion don't you I think it adds excitement to the game,” Scott told talkSPORT. I'm a Sunderland fan obviously for the the women's team and then you think about the men's team as well the excitement.

“Whenever I go home my nephews are talking about whether Sunderland men are going to get promoted and then a lot of the talk around say the Premier League at the minute you look at who's getting relegated. For me, obviously I don't know all the aspects of how it would look from a financial point of view but I do like the idea of relegation and promotion because imagine being in a league below and not having that opportunity to get promoted.

“I think as athletes you always want to know whether you've succeeded whether it's on the weekend whether it's at the end of the season you want to know whether you've failed and how you can get better so I just think if there wasn't that measurement it would kind of take away the excitement.

“I think them opportunities in my opinion I think should still stand because I remember the times in which you've probably have been relegated or when you have been promoted and it's either the best day of your life or the worst day of your life and that's why we all love sports so much because it's such a fine line.”

Former Manchester City, Sunderland, Everton and England star Scott works closely with former Black Cats boss Roy Keane in the punditry sphere with both footballing figures appearing regularly on The Overlap with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright.

“I always say to Roy the annoying thing is like sometimes you want to get mad with him but 99 per cent of the time he's actually right in what he's saying,” Scott added when asked about working with Keane. “He's got very good values, very good morals and he just wants to put things right.

“Sometimes it's everything that he sees he wants to put right but he's a great guy and I spoke before about obviously when I met David Beckham like Roy was one of my heroes growing up, centre midfielder. I always joke that's why I used to get sent off because I used to watch kind of how he tackled people but he's a great guy and again I feel so lucky to be working alongside them guys and yeah we have a laugh.”