Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star 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, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that led 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 replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – 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 up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced 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 in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
