When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. 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 was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I really required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
