Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored 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 earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
