🔗 Share this article

Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.

“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”

But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?

Learning in non-league

Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.

He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely needed.

“Building 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 where I am today.”

At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.

“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.

He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth 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 moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.

Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his major transfer

Scott experienced a difficult 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 starting XI.

His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.

“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.

“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.

“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”