Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story 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 playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated 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.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things 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 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing 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 life,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
