Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. 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.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“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 Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, 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,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
