When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was something I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
