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 boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind 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 explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to 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 Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
