When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a story seldom 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 featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected 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 went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
