When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott 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 remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I really required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted 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 versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted 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 top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
