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Back when Alex Scott made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.

Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” the player said in a recent interview.

“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”

So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?

Developing in the lower tiers

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

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

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 mind was not in it.

Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.

“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I really required.

“Building some confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at the opposition.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.

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

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.

“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.

He went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.

Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his major transfer

Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.

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

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

“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”

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

He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.

And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.

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

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”