Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him 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.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I really required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had 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 stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward 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 forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up 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 went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
