Back 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 predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced 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 side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, 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.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
