When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things 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 substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility 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 up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season 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 the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
