Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
