🔗 Share this article

Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.

Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.

What’s next? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.

“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”

So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

His path in football has been far from a conventional one.

He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.

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

“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.

“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely required.

“To gain some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”

At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.

“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”

In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.

He made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his major transfer

Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.

His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.

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

“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”

But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.

He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.

“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott said recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”