When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
