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When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full England squad.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.

“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”

So how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Learning in non-league

His path in football has not been a typical one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.

Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.

“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.

“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive 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 Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half 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 stated back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.

He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.

Getting his big move

The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.

His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.

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

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

But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.

“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said recently.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”