When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
