When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even 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 still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation 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 fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
