When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer 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 play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England 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 best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
