When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, 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 explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was something I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott 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 figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured 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 done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
