Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday 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 done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
