Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented 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.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
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 matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
