Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
