Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”
This statement turned out to be something of an underestimation.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his first summons to the senior England squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey seldom seen 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, let alone featuring in the top division and representing England too,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for myself and my loved ones.”
But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up here?
Developing in the lower tiers
Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries gave him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart was not in it.
Instead, 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 a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood again was a thing I really needed.
“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.
“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,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the manner he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Returning to the pro ranks
Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.
He 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 number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.
By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.
“No doubt, I believe he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s boss at the club, remarked last year.
Within 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.
“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.
He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun this season just as impressively for his club, featuring 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 hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
