When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This 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 first call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday 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 done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
