When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
His football journey 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, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important 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 substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth 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 nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle 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 Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
