When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months after, 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 Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
