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When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

That prediction turned out to be something 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 England team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.

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

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

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.

He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.

Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.

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

“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.

“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“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,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.

“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”

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

Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.

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

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.

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

Getting his big move

The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.

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

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

“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”

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

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.

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

“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”