When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly 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, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends 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 confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem 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 ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle 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 U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
