When the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the top division and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing 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, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’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 top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
