Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott has opened up on the reasons why he fell through the net at Premier League Bournemouth and Southampton ahead of a summer transfer window in which he could make a multi-million pound move to the top-flight.
Scott has a host of admirers across England’s elite division and City have placed a £25million valuation on the 19-year-old who’s become an integral player in Nigel Pearson’s side over the last two seasons having made his debut in August 2021.
Bournemouth are among the clubs who have been interested in the Championship Young Player of the Year and have made enquiries into his availability over the last two transfer windows, each time baulking at the fee quoted.
However, the Cherries once had Scott as one of their own when he was part of their academy five years ago following his release at neighbouring Southampton. But the struggle and burden, emotionally and financially, of having to travel regularly from his native Guernsey to the South Coast took its toll and the teenager admits it was his decision to leave the Cherries set-up and return to play amateur football on the Channel Islands.
That opened up the opportunity of a trial at Bristol City a few years later, where Brian Tinnion then carefully guided him through the age groups to become the outstanding prospect he is today.
Away with the England Under-20 squad at the World Cup in Argentina, where is one of just two EFL-based players in the squad, Scott has reflected on his journey in a first-person piece with the FA, discussing his early days in Southampton when he would travel to Hampshire with half-sister Maya Le Tissier, of Manchester United and England, and friend and now Robins teammate Ben Acey.
“I got released by Southampton around the age of 12 or 13 and then went to Bournemouth, where I played for a year,” Scott said.
“Getting released by Southampton was tough. I fell out of love with football a bit and ended up going back home to Guernsey and playing local football there for two years. That brought the love for football back for me. Going back to grassroots football was one of the best decisions I ever made and helped me get to where I am now.
“Most of the time, we’d fly over on Fridays, often around lunchtime which meant I missed a fair amount of school growing up, or it would be after school if there were flights then.
“We’d stay in a hotel Friday, have training on Saturday morning, play a game on Sunday morning and then get the next flight back on Sunday so we could be back for school on Monday.
“It was good to do it with people who were similar in age, and it was good for our parents as well because whilst we were missing out on time with our friends back home, so were our parents and families. So, having others there, doing the same thing, made it easier for everyone to relate to one another.
“When we had a day off on Saturday, we'd either go to watch a Southampton game if they were at home or we'd wander about the town. We did just about everything together for the weekend so I've built a really close relationship with Ben, especially with him now being at Bristol City, and I’ve been close with Maya since we were kids. It was important to have other people there, and I'm glad they were there to share the journey with.”
Having failed to make the grade at Southampton, Scott was picked up by Bournemouth but the time and effort he had put into trying to make it at Saints, coupled with the emotional drain and the impact it was having on him at such an important and influential time of his life was pronounced during his time in Dorset.
Scott reveals that Bournemouth didn’t cover some of the financial costs of travelling regularly, as Southampton did, and therefore he flew over less regularly and his game time suffered, slowly eroding his desire to carry on with the routine.
The teenager eventually initiated a return to his homeland to play for St Martin’s and the Guernsey FC where he rediscovered his love for the game and was able to ultimately lead more of a conventional life before City came calling in 2019.
“Southampton would cover some of the costs - I believe they paid for the hotel - but my parents had to shoulder the cost of the flights each week and now that I'm older, I understand how challenging that would have been for them,” Scott added. “It meant that when I joined Bournemouth, I would travel over twice a month instead because my parents had to pay for both the flights and the hotel, so it was not cheap for them.
“It got to the stage when I was at Bournemouth where I wasn't really enjoying it. I knew I wasn't playing well and I wasn't getting as much game time as I wanted to. I was only getting maybe 20 minutes, half an hour each weekend, which is not ideal, and you don’t want to be doing that as a kid, where your whole weekend feels like it is wasted just for 20 minutes of football.
“Especially when you know you're not performing well – it is tough to stay at it.
“The decision to leave Bournemouth was more from my end. They wanted me to come back but I made the decision with my family, who knew that I wasn't happy going over. I said to them that I didn’t want to do it anymore, which was really tough, but once I had made the decision, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
“I didn't really have a social life back home at that age as a lot of my growing up was spent staying in hotels with my mum and dad. I think that was the main benefit of when I went back to play in Guernsey at 14, because I could finally have a bit of a social life, spend time with my friends and create memories with them.
“I doubt I would have had the career I'm having now if I hadn't returned to grassroots football and St Martin’s. That decision to go home, enjoy my football, and live my life more fully made me happier off the pitch, which in turn meant better performance on the pitch.”
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