Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability 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 England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like 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 England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly 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 one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
