Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth 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.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field 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, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
