Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player 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.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was something I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
