Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward 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 drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
