When the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
