Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by 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, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, 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 will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
