Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “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 call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match 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 Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role 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 reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him 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 Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring 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 life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”