Back 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 coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost 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 self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
