Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four 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 train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that led 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 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
