Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible 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 fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was something I really required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, 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 all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
