When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team 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 runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’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 England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, 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 a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
