Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half 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 attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute 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 side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
Thanks to 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 Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team 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 claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
