When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him 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 opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it 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 succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
