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

That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.

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

His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said previously.

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

So in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

His football journey has not been a typical one.

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

Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.

Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.

“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.

“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.

“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors 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 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.

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

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.

Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.

Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his major transfer

Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.

His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.

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

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

But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.

“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said recently.

“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”