Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth again was something I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England 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 best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn 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 sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding 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 equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
