Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured 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 three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
