When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly 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, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager 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 a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit 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 formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
