Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
