When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? 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 representing the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air 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. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen 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 professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year 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 started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
