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, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” 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 doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
