Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented 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 pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
