Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing 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 starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had 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 a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
