Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
