When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
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 replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won 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 top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
