When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability 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 rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
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 partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
