When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for 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 statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had a decent 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 quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
