Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work 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 possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder 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 named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
