Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point 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 versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments 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 hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
