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Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.

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

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.

What’s next? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.

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

So how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Learning in the lower tiers

His path in football has been far from a typical one.

He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

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

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.

“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”

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

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.

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

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.

“Midweek I featured for his local side 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 done deal for me to sign a contract.”

Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

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

Getting his big move

Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.

His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.

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

“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”

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

He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.

“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”