When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed 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 the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
