Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey 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 featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half 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 train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over 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 had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. 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 senior debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – 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 competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches 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 career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”