When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player 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 get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. 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 making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
