Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League 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 transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
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, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was something I really required.
“To gain a bit of confidence 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 became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club 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 not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability 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 City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself 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, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
