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

This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.

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

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

Learning in non-league

His football journey has not been a conventional one.

He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his 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, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

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

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.

“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”

At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

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

“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.

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

“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”

Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.

Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.

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

Getting his big move

Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.

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

“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.

“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 England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.

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

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”