Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This statement turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior England squad.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at 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 feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some confidence by returning and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Less than three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder endured a difficult first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was yet another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
