Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and representing England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback 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 succeeded in regain fitness 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 formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
