When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture 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 commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, 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 think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, 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 nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
