🔗 Share this article

When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.

Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.

“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”

But how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Developing in the lower tiers

Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries 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.

Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.

“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I really needed.

“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors 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 second-half substitute in their league match at the opposition.

“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.

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

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.

“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth 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 down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.

Getting his big move

The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.

His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.

“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.

“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”

But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.

He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started this season equally 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 occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”