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When Alex Scott stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

That statement proved to be something of an understatement.

Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England squad.

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

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.

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

But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

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

He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his local team.

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

“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.

“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”

When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.

“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack 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 ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his big move

Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.

His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.

“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.

“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”

But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.

“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.

“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”