When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement 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 side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before 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, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, 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 almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost 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 managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
