When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at 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 decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League 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 several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
