Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 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 include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
