When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable 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 begun the current campaign 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 occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
