Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott 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 remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With 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 attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
