Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement 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 team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, 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 help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
