When Alex Scott made 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 youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back 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 contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year 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 succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
