When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position 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 ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named 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’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
