Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“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 professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins 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.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring 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 life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
