Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train 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, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday 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. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
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 the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
