Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack 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 division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
