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 coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating 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 forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI 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’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – 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 the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
