When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth 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 the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to 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 nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
