When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning 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 was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
