Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important 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 had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, 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 equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
