When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things 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 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England 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 went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
