When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
