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 predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup 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 train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood again was something I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at the opposition.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a three goals. It was almost 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 first-team debut against Luton.
He made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being in and out of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery 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 he.
“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in 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 formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
