Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old 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 possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance 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.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
