Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
