Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was something I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing 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 injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
