Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the 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 deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
