Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely told in the modern game.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up 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 Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
