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 earned his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “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 his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’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.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year 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 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 Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
