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When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of a mere 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.

Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.

His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott said previously.

“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and things have transformed completely for myself and my family.”

So how did Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an option and he remained with them 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 turn out for his local team.

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

“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that little bit of youth again was a thing I definitely required.

“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important things that got me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.

“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.

“It was hectic,” said Scott. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a total surprise.

“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”

Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.

He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his ability to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, stated previously.

Within 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his major transfer

The midfielder experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.

His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly four months.

“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.

“It was almost another setback and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”

But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.

And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my career,” the player stated recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and get my chance.”