Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction 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 full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of 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 train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
