Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy 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 at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“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 my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen 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’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
