Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart 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 starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some confidence by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
