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When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.

Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said previously.

“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”

So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?

Learning in non-league

Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.

He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Rather, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.

“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.

“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half 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 his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented back then.

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

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward 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 ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.

His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.

“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.

“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.

And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”