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 manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at 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 club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got 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 replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often 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 skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally 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 life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
