Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” 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.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical 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 fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on 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 include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
