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 assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
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? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
