Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team 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 division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start 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 started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
