When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast 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 Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” 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 little bit of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, 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 Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
