Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back 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 contract.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery 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,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
