When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel 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 that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
