Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance 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.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost 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 managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
