When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 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 match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. 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 down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
