Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
