Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position 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 England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted 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 game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing 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.”
