Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, 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 development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen 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’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
