Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before 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, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference 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 award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches 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 with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”