When the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – 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 forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
