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

That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.

“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”

So how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Learning in the lower tiers

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

He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.

“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.

“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I really required.

“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.

“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.

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

Making a comeback to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.

He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his big move

The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.

“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.

“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”

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

He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.

And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.

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

“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”