When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, 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 opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on 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 still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’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 sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and the year 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 managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
