When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
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 rise from eighth-tier talent to potential 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 no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad 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 went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
