When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got 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 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible 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 Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
