When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost 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 making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
