When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was something 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 perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“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
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking 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 youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
