When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been 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 island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted 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 relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their 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 his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England 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, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
