Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won 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 will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
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 midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
