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When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

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

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.

What’s next? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.

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

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

Learning in non-league

Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.

He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Rather, he opted to stay on the island and turn out 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 relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.

“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.

“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost 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 the Hatters.

Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.

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

“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.

Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his major transfer

Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem 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 ruled him out for nearly four months.

“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.

“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”

But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five 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 must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”