When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement 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 his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
