Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility 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 up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had quite a good 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 setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
