Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
