Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement 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,” manager the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
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 Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
