Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“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 got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by 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.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
