Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
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 every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
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 arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
