When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, 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 pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” 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 doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having 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 stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
