Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, 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 mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen 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 islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
