When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, 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 sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it 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 Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
