When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
