Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full England team.
His ascent 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?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
