Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively 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 one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
