Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen 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 playing for England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, 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 was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
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 ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen 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 England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation 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,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
