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Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.

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 England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.

“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”

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

Learning in non-league

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

He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.

Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.

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

“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I definitely required.

“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match 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,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.

“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the 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, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role 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 reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.

Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his big move

Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.

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

“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.

“It was yet another setback and it 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 regain fitness for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.

And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”