When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
