When Alex Scott defined what those in his native Guernsey call an ‘islander’s mentality’, everything else about England‘s newest recruit made a little more sense.
It encapsulated his resilience to fight back from rejection by Southampton at the age of 12 and through the injury nightmare at Bournemouth having finally clinched a move into the Premier League.
And it is inherent to the dedication shown after leaving school having failed PE and set out upon a college course in sport while playing senior men’s football for Guernsey in the Isthmian League, where every away game starts with a 6am flight.
‘It just means we are fearless,’ explained Scott, who was called up by Thomas Tuchel for World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
‘When we get an opportunity, because they’re tough to come by back home, and it’s tough to get to the mainland, I feel like we take opportunities when they come around, and it’s important for us to do that.’
Nobody should be surprised if this 22-year-old takes his next one, too, stepping into senior international football for the first time after winning European titles with England’s Under 19s and Under 21s.
Bournemouth star Alex Scott has earned his first senior call-up to the England national team
Thomas Tuchel rewarded the midfielder after his impressive start for the Cherries this season
Scott pictured with Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson after England’s U21 Euro 2025 triumph
Woven in with his ‘islander’s mentality’ is the tournament knowhow of winning European titles with the U19s and U21s and more international football experience within his family.
Stepsister Maya Le Tissier, 23, plays for Manchester United. She has 10 caps for the Lionesses and was part of the squad which defended the European title in Switzerland in July. She is no relation of Matt Le Tissier, the last Guernsey born footballer to play for England men’s national team.
‘We’re very close, we speak most days,’ said Scott, whose father is the partner of Maya’s mother. ‘They’ve been together for maybe 10 years, so we’ve grown up playing football together in the same teams back home.
‘We’d fly over every weekend together. She would have games for Hampshire and I’d be playing for Southampton as a kid. We were flying over with our parents and it took a lot, especially for our parents, the amount of money they were paying and the dedication they put in for us to dream of being footballers.
‘She’s flying at Man United and at the Lionesses and I couldn’t be prouder of her. She’s obviously pleased for me. She texted me straight away when she got the news. It’s nice to have someone around who has experienced it. She can help me out with advice on playing at the top-level and in the top-pressure situations.’
Scott’s own dream stalled briefly when he was released at the age of 12 after four years in Southampton’s academy. He spent a year with Bournemouth but did not take him on at the time.
‘It was pretty upsetting,’ he said on his first day at the England camp. ‘They obviously thought I wasn’t good enough at the time and they saw that and released me, but it just felt like four years of my life had been committed to this and for it to be blown away, it was heartbreaking at the time.
‘But I think that definitely helped me. I took maybe three years just playing local football back home, seeing my friends and family again, enjoying life.
‘Back then I didn’t know what I wanted to do but when I hit 15 or 16, I definitely wanted to go and push and try again to be a footballer. Guernsey gave me that chance, playing every game there at 16 and then Bristol City came in. Thankfully I scored a hat trick in my trial.’
He has a ‘close’ relationship with his stepsister Maya Le Tissier, a regular for the Lionesses
She is no relation of Matt Le Tissier, the last Guernsey born footballer to play for England men
The Cherries midfielder, who is from Guernsey, opened up on his fearless ‘islander’s mentality’
It has been a rapid upward trajectory ever since. There was praise from Pep Guardiola after a cup tie against Manchester City and a £25million move to Bournemouth in 2023.
His first two seasons were disrupted by injuries, but Scott has excelled this season. He looks stronger and more assured, exemplified last month when Bournemouth beat Nottingham Forest last month and he eclipsed England midfielders Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White.
That may have been a performance to convince Tuchel to take a closer look.
Scott is arguably more versatile than either Gibbs-White or Anderson, with whom he struck a good midfield understanding while playing for England’s U21s under Lee Carsley.
He played as a wing back when he broke through at Bristol City, has played as a box-to-box eight, a holding six and a creative 10 behind the striker. But Scott said yesterday that prefers to play as a box-to-box eight.
His favourite player is Pedri of Barcelona and his fondest World Cup memory is from 2018 in Russia. Now, here he is staking his claim to be in Tuchel’s squad at the World Cup.
‘It’s a crazy feeling,’ said Scott. ‘You’re at the home and you get the call. The nerves are through the roof. You don’t know what the manager is going to say. You psyche yourself up for it, but you don’t really know what’s going to happen.
Scott’s dominant display in the Under-21s Euros final win over Germany impressed Tuchel
The Bournemouth midfielder admitted his first senior England call-up was a ‘crazy feeling’
‘When he told me I was in the squad, it was an unbelievable feeling. I couldn’t stop smiling. You get off the phone, you’re telling your family, your friends, everyone. They’re over the moon and can’t believe it as well. It is a feeling I am never going to forget. I am just grateful he gave me the opportunity.’
Don’t be surprised if the Channel Islander takes it.
