When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
