Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated 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.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
