When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make 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 just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start 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 went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
