Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home 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 sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign 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 end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in 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 the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
