When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an option 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 the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “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 featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year 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 top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
