Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important 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 second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, 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 tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
