When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 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 journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local 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, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, 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 Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
