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Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.

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

But in what way did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?

Developing in non-league

His path in football has been far from a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.

Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.

“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.

“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood back was something I really required.

“Building some self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.

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

Returning to the professional game

Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.

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

“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”

Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.

He made 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack 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 named the club’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 pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his big move

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

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

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

“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.

And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.

“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”