Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. 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 earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive 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 Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
