Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back 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.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
