Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, 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.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league fixture 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 exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC 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 certainty 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 senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill 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 playmaker 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 league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn 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 knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up 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 England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
