🔗 Share this article

When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior England team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.

“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”

So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

His path in football has not been a typical one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.

“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really required.

“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.

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

Returning to the pro ranks

Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.

“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.

“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.

With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.

Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.

His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.

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

“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.

He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.

“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.

“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”