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When Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.

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

What’s next? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player stated previously.

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

So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?

Developing in non-league

His football journey has not been a conventional one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.

“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.

“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.

“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.

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

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.

“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – 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 drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his big move

Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.

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

“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”

But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.

And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.

“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”