Back 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 manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age 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 rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
