When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early 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 his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility 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 ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up 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 matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said 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.”
