When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“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 pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
