When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year 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 in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
