Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute 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 his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
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 attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in 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 first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
