When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start 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 went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
