Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, 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, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian 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,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide 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,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
