When the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
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 earned his first call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. To have that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half 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 get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait 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 knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win 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 the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign just as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
