When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected 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 competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
