Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year 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 game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as 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 succeeded in get himself fit 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 strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
