Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, 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 nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
