Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got 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 was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – 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.
With 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 Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“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 called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
