When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that slice of youth again was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented 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
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced 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 being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said 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 the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing 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 every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
