Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
