Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player stated previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my family.”
So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
His football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to he turned 13, though, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Second-tier club Bristol City – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he will represent England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
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 just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has started this season equally as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”
