When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack 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.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
