When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’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’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
