Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every 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.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by 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 a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder 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 league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost 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.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
