Alex Scott: The sky is the limit for the European Champion known as the Guernsey Grealish

Alex Scott played an integral role in the England U19’s route to lifting the Euros this summer and the 18-year-old still has so much more to give as he prepares to embark on his third season at Championship side Bristol City.

Alex Scott. The name may ring a bell for football fans. European champion at club level, 140 England caps, six top-flight English league titles, seven FA Cups and an inductee into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.

However, this 2003-born Alex Scott is looking to pave his own route into the football history books.

From making his senior debut in the eighth tier of English football, playing for the most successful Channel Island’s club at just 16-years-old to conquering Europe at the age of 18, the rise has been exponential and Scott continues to take each new challenge in his stride.

This season, the challenge for Scott is to live up to the greater expectations. He has become a crucial component in Nigel Pearson’s Bristol City side and a firm fan-favourite who have given him the enviable nickname of “The Guernsey Grealish.” While the dribbling abilities of Scott and Jack Grealish have an uncanny resemblance, Scott’s importance to Bristol City means he has been rewarded a new squad number which has been adorned by some different elite football stars. 

Most relevantly, the greatest footballer to come from the little island of Guernsey, Matt Le Tissier, proudly wore the number seven at Southampton and will without a doubt be someone Scott will look to emulate on the pitch.

So far, every new hurdle has been cleared with aplomb by the 18-year-old and should the rate of progression continue there is no reason as to why Scott should not aspire to at least be a nominee for the Premier League Hall of Fame like his fellow islander.

However, with the number seven shirt comes the inevitable comparisons to one and only Cristiano Ronaldo, who has made the number a part of his image. Many other greats such as David Beckham, Kenny Dalglish and George Best have also rocked the number seven proudly and with the stardom surrounding the number, comes the pressure to deliver consistently brilliant performances.

In 39 appearances last season, Scott scored four goals and assisted a further two in a campaign which saw Bristol City finish the Championship in 17th position. Those stats however do not paint the full picture, Scott became a figure that Pearson could rely on consistently and his versatility saw his position in the starting eleven change constantly. 

Despite his favoured position being in attacking midfield Scott ended the season playing as a right wing-back to plug in the area of need for Pearson. Throughout the 2021/2022 campaign, Scott also played in defensive midfield, central midfield, attacking midfield, right midfield and second striker, therefore trying to find the rhythm in his play will have been made more difficult. 

This season those areas of weakness have been addressed by Bristol City with four new summer signings meaning Scott will be able to play in his favoured role more often.  The Robins kick off their season away to Hull City this Saturday and the 18-year-old will without a doubt be looking to kick on further by improving on those numbers in the new campaign.

Path to becoming a European Champion

Breaking the boundaries is something that Scott will be used to, coming from Guernsey which has a population of around 63,000. The development of Scott at local club St Martins AC was quickly rewarded as at just 16-years-old, he became the youngest ever player to represent Guernsey FC in the eighth tier of English football.

However, it was clear from the offset that Scott’s level was far superior to those around him and despite being turned away by Southampton and Bournemouth earlier in his childhood, he was quickly snapped up by Bristol City following a successful trial match in which he scored three goals. In 2020, Scott joined the U18 set-up at the Robins and hit the ground running scoring in all of Bristol City’s FA Youth Cup matches that campaign, earning himself a first England cap at youth level playing 45 minutes in a 2-0 victory over Wales U18’s in March 2021.

His progress was further rewarded at the end of the 2020/2021 season by Nigel Pearson as Scott made his professional debut in April 2020 against Luton Town before featuring in all of the last three Championship fixtures as the Robins finished comfortably in 19th position.

Pearson continued to integrate Scott into the first-team set-up at the start of last season until the midfielder became undroppable missing just one of the last 30 league matches for the Robins.

Overall last season, the midfielder amassed 2865 minutes of domestic football and his hand in helping the Robins finish the season four matches unbeaten, meaning he was one of just three players to make the England U19’s squad for the Euros that did not have a contract with a Premier League academy.

Scott was emitted from the previous squad selection and coming from a Championship club it is understandable that the midfielder had an uphill task in forcing his way into the starting lineup for the Three Lions. However, Scott is further proof that the cream always rises to the top and his efforts in training did not go unnoticed by manager Ian Foster.

Scott came off the bench in the opening match of the tournament and the pattern of the season just passed took effect in just thirty minutes. Scott was introduced on the wings to help England find a cushioning second goal and within five minutes Scott played his role in helping England to double their lead. He was then moved centrally as the solo attacking midfielder before being asked to show the maturity he learned by playing regular minutes in men’s football and dictate play as the deep-lying central midfielder to kill any chance of an Austria comeback.

The 18-year-old’s impact was noticed by Foster who then played Scott in every minute of the remaining group matches as the Three Lions cruised to the top spot without conceding a single goal.

In the semi-finals, England were trailing Italy 1-0 and Foster once again called on Scott to change the game for his side. The Bristol City midfielder came off the bench in the 56th minute and with his very first touch powered a header into the net for his first international goal which dragged England back to level terms.

Following an 82nd-minute winning goal from Liverpool’s Jarrell Quansah, Scott again was moved into a defensive midfield role, displaying his remarkable close control to beat the Italian press and help England to close the match out.

That was the closest the Three Lions came to exiting the competition but thanks to Scott’s equaliser they were dragged out of the mud and despite falling behind in the final against Israel, the character built from coming from behind in the previous round helped England to prevail 3-1 in emphatic style after extra-time to lift the Youth Euro’s for a record-equalling 11th time.

Maturity beyond his years

Becoming a European champion is a feat that few players will achieve in their entire careers, however at youth level there is so much risk of distorting from the ideal path to the top. Fame, money and commitment are some of the factors that can sway a player with so much potential off the path to sporting greatness, however such an issue does not resonate from Scott who remains humble and driven to keep learning and improving by plying his trade week in, week out.

While some of the England squad will continue to win medals and achieve records in their careers a lot more will fall by the wayside and fail to reach their full potential for various factors including lack of minutes in senior football having been protected in the academy football bubble for too long. In fact, only four of England’s 2017 Euro-winning starting lineup have gone on to achieve minutes in the Premier League so the Bristol City midfielder will be looking to be one of the minority by following in the footsteps of Mason Mount, Ryan Sessegnon, Lukas Nmecha and Aaron Ramsdale in the near future by achieving regular minutes in the top-flight of English football.

Scott’s achievements have not gone under the radar of the biggest clubs in England and it is a badly kept secret that Tottenham, Leeds and Everton all have displayed an interest in the teenager. While the modest youngster may not admit it himself, his talent and ambition may soon outgrow the Robins’ ceiling as a club.

Yet, Scott has the maturity to understand that his situation is far greener than many other talents of his age due to being trusted with the minutes on the pitch playing at an extremely high level where the pressure of performing and achieving results is of utmost importance. This maturity and confidence in his own ability have led to the acknowledgement that a move up too soon could have a detrimental effect on his progress. The teenager has reiterated his future still lays with the Robins as for now and he has set his sights on trying to achieve promotion into the Premier League with the west-country club, rather than potentially playing in an under-23 setup at an already established top-flight club.

Scott has gone from a shy young lad at Guernsey FC to a shop-window player for Bristol City, taking several interviews with national press organisations and even playing his part in the Robins’ pre-season coverage as a live studio guest and co-commentator for their fixture against Cheltenham Town, having been given extra time off due to his summer exertions for his country.  Scott offered pre-match and post-match analysis alongside a live play-by-play reaction, something that not many players would have the courage to do at any age, let alone so young.

The Robins’ academy boss Brian Tinnian has said it will take a “big, big, big offer” to consider the sale of their young talisman. Bristol City realises the prospect they have in their grasp and are playing up to that, making the youngster feel at home and allowing Scott to spread his wings by providing the canvas to freely paint his picture as a professional footballer which could lead to him flying the Robins into the Premier League. While the vultures from the leagues above patiently stalk their prey waiting for the opportunity to swoop in and feast on the abundance of ability at the feet of the teenager.

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