Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“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 Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
