University of Winchester journalism student’s football film has star quality

A University of Winchester journalism student has made a splash in the world of football with a new documentary focusing on one of the game’s rising stars.

Harry Rhydwen-Jones has been attracting positive comments for his film The Island Dream which centres on England Under-20 international Alex Scott, the EFL Championship Young Player of the Year.

The film is Harry’s end-of-course project and its subject matter was an obvious choice as Harry has known Alex for most of his life.

The pair grew up on Guernsey and played for the same youth football teams – although Harry admits Alex was always the star player.

“I’ve known Alex since I was six or seven. It was always obvious that he was a really good but I never expected he’d reach the heights he has at such a young age,” said Harry who is in the third year of his BA in Sports Journalism and hopes to stay on at Winchester to complete his Masters.

Alex was a member of the Southampton FC Academy but his dreams of the big time looked to have been shattered after Saints let him go and a spell with Bournemouth also ended unhappily.

Harry’s film shows how Alex regained his love for the game, and his form, playing for semi-pro Guernsey FC.

The midfielder caught the attention of Bristol City and then played a key role in the England team which won the 2022 European Under-19s Championship.

Inspired by Alex two other Guernsey teenagers Ben Acey and Tim Ap Sion have signed with the Bristol City Academy.

The 20-minute film has gone down particularly well with fans of Alex’s club Bristol City who have posted some rave reviews online.

Harry said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the response and thanked City for the help they had given in making the film.

University Journalism lecturer Angus Scott, who reported on the Qatar World Cup for ITV last year, said:

“Like all good journalist Harry has made the most of his connections.”

He added: “We encourage our students to publish all their course work to get noticed and Harry has certainly done that with The Island Dream.”

You can see Harry’s film here: