Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of 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 his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed 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 their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year 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 England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring 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 life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
