Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted 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 youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably 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 Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age 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 earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
