When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker 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 best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
