When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, 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 traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth again was something I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
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 second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
