Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”
This prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.
Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his maiden call-up to the full Three Lions team.
His ascent from non-league prodigy to potential England player is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern era.
What’s next? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have changed drastically for myself and my family.”
But in what way did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood again was a thing I definitely needed.
“To gain a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute 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 he’s that good,” manager the coach commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side the Robins – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, 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 sign a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against the Hatters.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being used as a wide defender – and sometimes in attack as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was selected in the league’s best XI and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Less than 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for almost four months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”
But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, featuring in all matches to help them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”