Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 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 Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad 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 for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
