Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system 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 feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
