Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team 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 claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five 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 keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
