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Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England team.

His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.

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

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

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.

He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity 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 remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.

“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture 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 he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated 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

Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.

“It was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.

“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”

Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making 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 sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.

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

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his big move

The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.

His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.

“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.

“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”

But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.

And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.

“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”