When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to 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 nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – 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, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”