When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
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 include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s 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 the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability 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 national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
