When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
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, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home 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.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating 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 rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing 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.”
