When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability 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 picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring 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 career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
