When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture 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 his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored 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, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally 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.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
