When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
