When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland 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 Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet 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 Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
