When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season 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 said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
