When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
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 earned his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games 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 excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
