Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“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 succeeded in regain fitness 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 understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
