Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ 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 attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
