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When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full England squad.

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

What’s next? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.

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

So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?

Learning in non-league

Scott’s path in football has been far from 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 island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.

Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.

“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.

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

“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”

In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.

He made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his big move

Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.

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

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

“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to 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 tournament in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.

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

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”