Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional 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 the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
