Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature 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 was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have 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 huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal 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 senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
