Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief 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 got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on 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 include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign 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 disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
