Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
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 ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ 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 in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
