When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island 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. 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 heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
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 Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost 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 the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
