Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year 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 U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
