Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of 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 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 decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity 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 remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates 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 definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things 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 Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start 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 England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
