Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability 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 picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
