When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This statement proved to be something of an understatement.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” Scott stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?
Learning in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of 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 south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
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, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he explained.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was something I definitely required.
“Building a bit of confidence by returning and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the division’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, stated last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four months.
“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
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 matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side with Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season equally as strongly for Bournemouth, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”