Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each 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, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, 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, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
