When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island 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 chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half 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 massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected 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 pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing 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.”
