🔗 Share this article

Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.

His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.

“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”

So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?

Learning in non-league

Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.

He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.

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

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.

“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.

“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge 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 youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.

“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”

Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.

Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.

Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.

Securing his major transfer

Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.

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

“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”