Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture 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 he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game 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 stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
