Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I really required.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. 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 down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – 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 the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
