When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus 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 boy.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each 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 decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches 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 stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
