When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’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.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
