Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors 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 was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach 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.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
