🔗 Share this article

When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.

“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”

But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

His football journey has not been a typical one.

He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.

Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.

“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted 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 definitely required.

“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”

When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.

“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”

In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.

Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.

Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his big move

The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, 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 nearly 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 almost another obstacle 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 regain fitness for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.

“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.

“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”