When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy 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, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen 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
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes 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 ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out 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 close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
