Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was something I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still 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 wide defender – 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 their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
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 went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
