🔗 Share this article

When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.

Now 22 years old and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the full England squad.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.

“It’s been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed completely for myself and my family.”

But in what way did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Developing in non-league

Scott’s football journey has been far from a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth back was something I really required.

“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping 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.

“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring his development after an promising start in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.

“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a three goals. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

In just 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against Luton.

Scott made 83 league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder 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 voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.

Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his major transfer

Scott experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the team.

His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.

“There was quite a good run at the end of last season, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.

“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be a pretty bad start for the first five months.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team with the national coach.

And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.

“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”