When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 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 Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
