When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
