When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my 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 a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained 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 netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like 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 England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
