When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive 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 national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start 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 matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
