When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him 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 chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
