Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating 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 rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
