Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart 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 every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, 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 will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, 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 following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and it 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 get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”