When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek 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 scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League 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 sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
