Alex Scott has established himself as one of English football’s most exciting young players in recent seasons, becoming a key Premier League player at Bournemouth and a full England international under Thomas Tuchel.
His move to the Cherries in 2023 was the latest step in a career which saw him go from playing his teenage football in the Channel Islands before a fortuitously timed move saw him join Bristol City in January 2020.
That came just before the Covid-19 pandemic brought football - and normal life - to a standstill, with Scott admitting that his timely decision to sign for the Robins had a massive impact on his career.
Scott on his Bristol City move
Scott made his senior debut for Guernsey in August 2019, when he became the Isthmian League side’s youngest ever player at 16, with Bristol City quick to take advantage of a link between the two sides.
“There was a connection already,” Scott tells FourFourTwo when explaining how the move to the Robins came about. “When I was 14 or 15, I knew that older players from Guernsey had gone over to Bristol City for trials, and that if I got to the level and broke through at Guernsey, I would probably have a chance at a trial myself.
“Luckily I got that and scored a hat-trick during my trial – I was thinking at that point, ‘That should be enough to get a deal!’ [Laughs] I couldn’t be thankful enough for everyone at Guernsey and the connection with Bristol City.”
That deal came just in time before the pandemic shut down football, with Scott all-too aware of how fortunate he was to get the deal done in time.
“Yes, I was at Bristol City for two months as a scholar playing under-18s football,” he continues. “I was loving it, then we got hit with the break, so I was back in Guernsey until August.”
Despite the uncertainty and disruption this brought to the game and to Scott on a personal level, he was able to make the best of the situation.
“It wasn’t too gutting,” he adds. "I’d been away for two months, the longest I’d been away in my whole life, so it was nice to go back for a bit. It was a terrible thing going on in the world, but I was able to see my friends and family.
“Then when I went back to Bristol City, that was when football got serious.”
Just as Scott was able to knuckle down and take the next step in his career, the pandemic would keep Guernsey out of non-league football until October 2021, so had he not made the move, it could have all been very different for the midfielder.
“I probably would never be where I am now,” he admits. “It’s not nice to think about things like that. Thankfully it’s all worked out for me, but it could have been a whole different story.”
Scott was speaking at PUMA’s new store on Oxford Street in London, the brand’s first European flagship store.
