When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was something I really required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, 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 four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
