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When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England squad.

His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated previously.

“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”

But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?

Learning in non-league

His football journey has not been a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.

Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really required.

“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”

When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.

“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.

“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.

Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.

“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.

“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.

He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.

And he has started this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.

“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”