Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I really required.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’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 pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Securing his big move
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
