Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the full England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had 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 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 pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
