Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? 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 stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been 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 travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
