When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, 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 starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “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, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost 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 setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
