Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really required.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps the most crucial factors 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 second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age 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 picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League 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 knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
