When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for 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 boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was something I really required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – 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 ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
