When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing 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 academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
