Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved 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 call-up to the full England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth again was something I definitely required.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
