When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, 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 wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors 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 came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four 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.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
