Alex Scott believed his hopes of becoming a professional footballer had ended at Bournemouth. At the age of 14 he was released by the club, just like a year earlier by Southampton. How remarkable it is that the 20-year-old is now a £25million star after being signed by Bournemouth from Bristol City last summer; the ‘Guernsey Grealish’ tipped as a future England international.
“I never stopped playing football. I have always played football. But there was a moment when I realized the chance of turning professional was probably gone, when I left Bournemouth. That was my mentality,” Scott explains.
“My head wasn’t there. I didn’t want to play football there (mainland). When I got that opportunity again two years later, I really wanted to go for it and that was a stroke of luck. I always played football non-stop, but I thought the dream was over.”
It’s quite a story. And it all started when Scott was just eight years old, after being scouted by Southampton at a summer camp on the Channel Island of Guernsey, where he is from. Soon he was leaving school early every Friday to fly to Southampton, where he spent weekends in a hotel with his father Noel or mother Steph. Scott did that for almost five years.
“At first I just loved it,” he says. “In Guernsey it’s always: ‘You have to leave the island to play professional football’. So that was a dream for me, to do what I loved to do. The disadvantage is that you spend every weekend in a hotel.”
As he grew older, the demands increased. There was a half day at school on Tuesday, Wednesday in Southampton, and again on Thursday. “Things kept building up and it was getting harder and harder and I wasn’t enjoying my football,” Scott admits. “I wasn’t playing well anymore and I knew it was almost the end.”
When he was let go it was “terrible”, but he adds: “I saw it coming early on and at the time I wasn’t too worried about it.”
It’s hard for him to think about the sacrifices his parents have made – and the costs. His ‘confidence was at an all-time low’ when Bournemouth signed him and unsurprisingly the move did not stick. Scott feared that all the time away from home actually meant he was missing out on part of his youth. “You lose your entire social life at home,” he says. “I just wanted to be with my friends.”
What happened next is instructive as Scott rediscovered himself and rebuilt his career in grassroots and non-league football in Guernsey, first with St Martin’s and then, at the age of 16, with the island’s men’s team, Guernsey FC, where it quickly became clear that he was far too good for that level.
“Then I really enjoyed it again, I loved it and felt like I was ready to start the academy again,” he says. “When you play for Guernsey you are playing for your island and you are representing 65,000 people and that is not something you can take for granted.”
A trial match was soon arranged with Bristol City, with Guernsey coach Tony Vance sending clips to academy director Brian Tinnion. “Luckily I got the chance and scored a hat-trick,” says Scott. It wasn’t just any hat-trick – it was a perfect hat-trick, left foot, right foot, header and all in the first 30 minutes.
“I went on trial and thought, not in an arrogant way, but I thought in training, ‘I’m the best player here’ and I just had that belief to keep going,” Scott says. “I never thought the time it took to get into the first team would be so short. It only lasted a year and a half, and half of that was closed.”
Bournemouth had continued to monitor his progress and had even tried to hijack the deal with Bristol City, but Scott had already agreed. “Bristol City heard Bournemouth were interested and they said, ‘Bring him here tomorrow,’” he says.
Scott fit in straight away – and pays tribute to the lessons he learned early in men’s football. “That was one of the main things that set me apart from the rest: the way I was able to use my body and my intelligence after playing against older and older guys,” he says.
“The boys (at Bristol City) were brilliant. Now that they talk to them, they say. “When you first came to us, we knew you would continue.” It was nice to hear.”
It was after Scott’s excellent performance in Bristol City’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Manchester City last February, when that Grealish comparison was made and he swapped shirts with the England international, that things really started to look ‘explode’, although many clubs did. is already considering taking a step. Scott knew a summer move was likely.
“While I was playing, it was easy for me to ignore it. But once the season was over, it became a lot harder because it almost kind of depends on you. You almost have to make a decision: do you want to stay? Do you want to leave? It got to the point where, yeah, I wanted to leave,” Scott says.
He was sold because of Bournemouth’s ‘ambition and vision’, but then the whole deal was almost called off. Scott suffered a knee injury just before he was due to sign and for the third time it looked like he was not destined to play for Bournemouth.
“It was terrible,” he says, recalling video footage of his Bristol City teammates holding their heads in their hands as he went down in training. “You can see they are shocked and upset for me. I fell to my knee and thought the movement was off. I knew something was wrong because of what happened and how it felt.”
The first scan resulted in a diagnosis just a week out. But after medical treatment in London there was bad news. “I drove to Bournemouth, was at the hotel and went to my room. I’m about to sign the deal. I came downstairs and I could see my officer’s face and I knew something had happened. He pulled me (to the side) and said, ’12 weeks.’ And I thought, ’12 weeks?’ and he said, ‘Your knee, 12 weeks.’
Scott was told the deal was off and sat dazed in a corner of the hotel while Max Aarons, who was also staying there, completed his move. He went to bed convinced it was over and showed up for breakfast the next morning to meet his agent Wayne Henderson and talk about the next step. “He just said, ‘The deal’s done,’” Scott recalls. “I was so happy.”
The knee injury ruled him out for the start of the season, but allowed him to scout his new teammates from the stands and learn what the impressive new head coach Andoni Iraola wanted from his team: pressing triggers, passing moves, pattern of play.
It meant that even when Bournemouth got off to such a tough start, with six Premier League defeats and three draws, Scott could see things were about to change. “It was extremely educational to watch the games,” says Scott. “I knew when I came to training and when I played matches that things would click. You scout your teammates and see what they like. What foot they use is important, what passes they see in games, who does a trick and beats a player, who is likely to cross early.”
Once fit, Scott was thrown straight into the team, saying “That was probably the best way to do it” as he and Bournemouth prospered. League leaders Liverpool are the visitors to the Vitality Stadium on Sunday and confidence is soaring as Scott is likely to be seen in his signature look, with his socks rolled down. “I did it at first because it was tight around my calves in the second half of the game and I ended up playing well, so I stuck with it. Obviously Jack Grealish influenced this too,” he says.
And the ‘Guernsey Grealish’ comparison? “Of course! He’s one of the best players in the league, so I’ll take that,” Scott says with a laugh.