When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
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 replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
