Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of youth back was something I definitely needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role 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 nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott experienced a difficult first season with the Cherries, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started the current campaign equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
