When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first summons to the full England team.
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.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning 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 starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”