Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
He made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
