When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen 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
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
