Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute 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 he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by 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 deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent 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 last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
