Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
