Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player 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 believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally 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 broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
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 England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” 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 with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
