Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
