Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign 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 player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
