When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field 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, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible 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 matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
