Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system 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 his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position 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 won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
