Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, 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 mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things 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 was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against 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 in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill 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 national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was 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 setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
