When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and representing England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“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 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.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult 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 inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
