When the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the full England team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing England too,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
His path in football has not been a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach 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.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’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,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
