When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey 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 home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
