When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker 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 trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive 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 attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
