When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself 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 play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax 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 something I really required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the 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.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth 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 Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, 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 fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
