Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer 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 chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability 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 City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle 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.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England 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 Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
