Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive 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 fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
