When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of 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.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’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 game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
