‘That’s where it started for me, my way of playing, the freedom to play and enjoy football’ Bournemouth’s Alex Scott on rejecting academy system to play on the Channel Islands

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The England and Bournemouth midfielder spent his formative years flying from Guernsey to the English mainland to train in the youth system Bournemouth and then Southampton.

Scott could have gone to find another club after being let go by Southampton’s academy – but instead took a conscious decision to play senior football on the Channel Islands instead.

Scott told FourFourTwo: “I thought I could still be a footballer, that I might get another chance, but knew it would be tough.

“At that point though, I wasn’t enjoying it and if I’d stayed, I don’t think I would have progressed the way I did after going back home. It was the right decision.

“I was training with the team quite a bit when I was 15, doing bits after our under-16s sessions.

“I’d go over to the first team and fill spaces basically, but you couldn’t play until you were 16, so I had to wait.

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“In the first game after my birthday, I got thrown on, wearing number 14 – that was also my first number in the Premier League for Bournemouth, so it came full circle.

“It was a lot different quality-wise for sure. Physically when I was that young, it was important for me to play men’s football and I learned a lot. In the youth teams, I’d almost just take the ball and dribble, but when you go into senior football, you’re going to get hurt doing that.

“I learned that the hard way, training with the Guernsey lads and playing in games, but that experience definitely benefited me, especially when I later went to Bristol City and broke through.

“I can remember one game – I can’t recall who it was against, but it was at home. I was playing at eight or 10, and every time I got the ball, this number six for the opposition was just nailing me every time! I was thinking, ‘Yeah, this is proper…’

“But I enjoyed it – I embraced it, gave him a bit back and started trying to do skills.

“That’s probably where it started for me, my way of playing, the freedom to play and enjoy football. Those moments brought that on.”

Scott was speaking at PUMA’s new store on Oxford Street in London, the brand’s first European flagship store.

Steven Chicken Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.

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