When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? 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 stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
