Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at 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 something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position 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 ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
