When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
