Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping 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 way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
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 competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
