Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability 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 City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected 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 his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”
