Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping 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.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team 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 claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
