When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.
“Building some confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. 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 earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
