When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led 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 57th-minute replacement 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 team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. 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 making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – 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 Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
