I used to cry at the thought of playing football – now I’m a Premier League star known as ‘Guernsey Grealish’.

ALEX SCOTT is a Guernsey boy living the Premier League dream.

The 21-year-old Bournemouth midfielder had a unique rise to the top as he didn’t want to play football and was released by the Prem academies.

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Not long ago, Scott viewed gaming as a frustrating distraction from his limited social life, which included learning roller tricks at a local skate park with his friends.

And when football got in the way, the young man often burst into tears.

Until January 2020, aged 16, when he moved from non-league Guernsey to Bristol City and the scooter was “set aside”.

Cherries boss Andoni Iraola will be happy about that, especially after spending £25m in August 2023.

But Scott’s scooter obsession came about during a difficult time in his early football career.

At the age of 14 he was dismissed from the academies in Southampton and Bournemouth and forced to make an “embarrassing” return to his birthplace in the Channel Islands.

Scott admitted: “Once you’re released, the question becomes: What happens next?”

“It’s embarrassing. At home I was the kid who wanted to be a professional.

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“It’s hard to get back into academy football but I didn’t play well and I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve lost love.

“I never really had a life outside of football. From the age of eight to 14 I went to school, then flew there every weekend, played games in the UK and then went back to school.

“When I came home, I became more interested in other hobbies. I was a big fan of riding scooters at the skate park.

“It was about a year or two ahead of football. Even when I played for Bournemouth at 13, I never wanted to leave.

“There were times when my parents said, ‘Okay, you can take your scooter.'” On Sunday I went to the skate park and then played soccer.

“I didn’t want to tell my father that I wanted to ride a scooter instead of football.

“He saw it as a missed opportunity because he knew my talent.”

“It was difficult. So many times I lay in my room crying and knew I had to fly over to play football.”

But then Scott says that between the ages of 14 and 16, something just clicked.

He added: “I played football back home in Guernsey for a few years, getting my confidence back and spending time with my friends. I enjoyed growing up as a normal kid.

“And then when I was 16 I got the chance to go back to England and it was absolutely certain that I would try the career again. It was a whirlwind. I never expected something like this to happen.”

Others would disagree, Guernsey manager Tony Vance saw the potential and made him the club’s youngest player in the Isthmian League as a 16-year-old.

Bristol City then struck a blow after Scott scored a hat-trick in a friendly against the under-17s, and Ashton Gate coach Nigel Pearson handed the teenager his first Championship start in May 2021.

After a 3-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City in February 2023, Pep Guardiola described him as an “incredible player” and the nickname “Guernsey Grealish” stuck – which marked Scott’s Prem move to Bournemouth just six months later.

Since then, however, Scott’s mentality has been tested again and again. Following his signing, he was sidelined for twelve weeks with a knee injury and a further seven weeks due to a strained ligament.

The England U21 international, who idolizes Jude Bellingham, admitted: “This second injury was the hardest time I have ever experienced in football.”

Unsurprisingly, however, he has recovered and appeared as a substitute in all seven of Bournemouth’s Premier League games this season.

He said: “There are times when I don’t start and it’s difficult to maintain that confidence. But I like watching clips of myself to remind myself of what I can do.

“I will always be grounded and humble.”