When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession 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 their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, 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 deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
