When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year 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’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide 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,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
