Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
This prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior England team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern game.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in non-league
His path in football has been far from a typical one.
He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly 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, though, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.
Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within three months later, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.
“It was almost another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.
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 standings.
“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott said recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”
