When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing 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 drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was 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 came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think 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, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
