When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of 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 feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their 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,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet 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 England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
