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When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player stated previously.

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

But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?

Learning in the lower tiers

His football journey has been far from a typical one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.

Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.

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

“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.

“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”

When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at the opposition.

“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.

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

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.

“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with 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 on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”

In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.

He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

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

At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.

Getting his big move

Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.

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

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

“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

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

And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.

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

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”