Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“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 stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
