Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge 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 most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“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,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
