Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted 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 little bit of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian 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 Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
