Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights 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 possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to 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 honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent 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 a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
