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Back when Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

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

Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player stated previously.

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

But how did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.

He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely required.

“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”

At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.

“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.

“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”

Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.

Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, 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 best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked previously.

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

Getting his big move

Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.

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

“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.

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

But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”