When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s academy setup from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive 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, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and by 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 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
