Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches 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,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
