Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent 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 a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
