When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a story seldom 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 playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position 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 ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start 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 started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
