Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a true throwback, a story seldom seen in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed completely for myself and my family.”
So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth 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 wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by returning and playing island football was massive for me. It was probably one of the most important things that got me to this point.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played 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.”
In just 18 months, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, 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 playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his big move
Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make 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 disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.
“It was almost another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad 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 games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a strong understanding 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, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
