Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional 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 the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my 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 youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, 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 Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad 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 went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
