Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the full England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
