When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school 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 his 13th birthday, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture 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 Tony Vance commented 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.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
He made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League 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 knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
