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When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.

Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full England squad.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.

“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”

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

Learning in non-league

His path in football has not been a typical one.

He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.

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

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

“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really needed.

“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”

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

“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.

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

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.

“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point 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 earning his first-team debut against Luton.

He made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his ability to carry 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 England playmaker Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his big move

Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.

His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.

“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.

“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.

And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.

“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”