Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved 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 senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start 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 with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
