Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important 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 came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture 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 he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward 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 drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
