🔗 Share this article

When Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.

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

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

Learning in the lower tiers

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, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.

“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.

“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.

He made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was 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 forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his big move

The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.

His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.

“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.

“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be 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 matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.

“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”