When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, 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 on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth 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 rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
