Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get 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 outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack 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 voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to 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 earn an opportunity.”
