Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like 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 England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
