When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent 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 train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
