When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture 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 he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, 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 Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
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 versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
