When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get 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 way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted 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 earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
