Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
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.
“All I desired to relax 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 really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include 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 way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
