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Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.

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

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

Learning in the lower tiers

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

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was something I really required.

“Building some confidence by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”

When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.

“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.

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

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.

“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

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

Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.

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

Getting his big move

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

His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.

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

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

But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.

He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.

And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.

“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, 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 earn an opportunity.”