Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His rise from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.
Next stop? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself 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 from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
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 substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and by 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 contract.”
In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’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, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to the top five in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
