Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I definitely required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. 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 Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
