Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
