When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
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’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
