Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved 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 summons to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill 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 nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as 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 get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
