Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how 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 typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
