Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 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 match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, 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 deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
