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Back when the young midfielder made his Guernsey debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

This prediction turned out to be a bit of an understatement.

Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.

“It’s been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for me and my family.”

But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?

Developing in non-league

His path in football has not been a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he chose to stay on the island and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely required.

“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing local football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that led me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work 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 carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.

“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus Luton.

Scott went on to make 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.

Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Getting his big move

The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.

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

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

“That felt like almost another setback and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”

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 England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the tournament in Slovakia, developing a strong understanding in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.

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

“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”