Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end 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’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
