When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early 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, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
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 men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
