When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled 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 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’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’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
