Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, 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 second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
