Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was something I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors 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 replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
