When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 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 the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
