Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That prediction proved to be something of an underestimation.
Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the top division and representing the national team too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in non-league
Scott’s football journey has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.
Instead, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his development after an impressive beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked previously.
Within three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost four 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.
“It was yet another setback and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the first team under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
