Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as 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 figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth 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 picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in 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, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
