When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave 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 chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester 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 honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
