Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive 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 became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, 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 moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
