When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed 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 – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was 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 England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
