When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I really required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that led 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 came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
