When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
