When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible 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 went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
