Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
That statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.
Now 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.
His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind playing in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
His football journey has not been a conventional one.
He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s academy setup starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly 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, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led 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 second-half replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.
“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.
“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Returning to the professional game
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for his local side in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”
In just a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe 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, stated previously.
Within 90 days later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.
Securing his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.
His following season was just as affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.
“There was quite a good run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as 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 for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing 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 this season just as impressively for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”
