When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably 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 the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack 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 division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing 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,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
