Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time 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 earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker 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 league’s best XI and was named the club’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,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
