When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
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 starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
