Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four 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 feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive 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 youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
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,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness 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 his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
