When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 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 a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted 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, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches 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 career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
