When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
