Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” 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 pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
