When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager 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 match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession 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 Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
