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 manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture 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 possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait 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 second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, 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 the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments 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 hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
