When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, 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 heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led 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 was introduced 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 side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
