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 back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, 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 a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I really needed.
“Building some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled 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 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated last year.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
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 end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year 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 for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
