When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the top division and representing England as well,” the player said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave Scott 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 chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“Building a bit of self-belief by returning and playing local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, 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 will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days after, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a difficult first season with the club, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season just as strongly for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.
“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
