When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup 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 play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager 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’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing 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 career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
