When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.
With 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.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has begun this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
