When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That statement turned out 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 ascent from non-league prodigy to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told 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 Premier League and representing England as well,” the player stated in a recent interview.
“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my loved ones.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?
Developing in the lower tiers
His football journey has been far from a conventional one.
He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind was not in it.
Rather, he opted to stay on Guernsey and turn out for his local team.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that led me where I am today.”
At the age of 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could get him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a complete surprise.
“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
In just a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against the Hatters.
He went on to make 83 league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.
With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team attacking midfielder Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was named Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated previously.
Less than three months after, he joined the Cherries for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.
His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.
“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.
“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as 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 regain fitness for the tournament.
He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.
And he has started this season just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.
“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated recently.
“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”