When the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include 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 outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
