Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture 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,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
