When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit 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. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
