Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, 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 wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“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
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by 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 senior debut versus the Hatters.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
