Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player stated previously.
“It’s 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, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I really needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, 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 believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
