When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be 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 in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
