When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had 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 back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive 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 total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
