When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with 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 netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
