When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity 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 play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“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
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made 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. 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 nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
