Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
