Back 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 predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely 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
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him 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.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
