When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
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 substitute in their league match 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,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
