Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup 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 attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial 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 came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – 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 Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
