When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their 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 his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention 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 the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He 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 attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as 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 succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
