From teenage limbo and Mangotsfield United to Champions League dream

Published2 hours ago

From non-league to the Champions League in two and a half years.

Even in a video game, that would be a hugely successful rise for a footballer.

But for Bristol-born Miguel Freckleton, a National League winner with Chesterfield in 2024, it is a wonderful reality.

"It's been crazy. It's so hard to put into words," the 23-year-old tells BBC Sport.

Freckleton joined Austrian champions LASK in the summer after a trophy-winning one-year stint with Scottish club St Mirren.

The Jamaica international has played seven times for LASK and made his European debut on one of the club's most famous nights.

He came on in extra-time as his side overturned a 4-0 deficit against Celtic to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.

Seeing that job out reminded Freckleton, who has had three stints in the National League, of how primal the game can be at the grade above, which he experienced in the 2024-25 season with Swindon Town.

"It was tough. It felt ugly again. It felt like being back in League Two, where I just need to come on and head it and kick it," he says.

"I didn't really feel I was in the international game and there wasn't £30m on the line. I just felt like I was playing back when I'm a kid again. That's when you play the best, when you just feel that freedom."

The draw for the league phase then handed LASK a set of fixtures that included trips to face Liverpool at Anfield and Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Even now, Freckleton is still "just trying to take it in".

Rovers, Wolves, £50,000, and a false start

Freckleton was on the books at Bristol Rovers until the age of 14, opting to leave after learning of interest from Wolves and Stoke City.

He recalls an agent talking about a potential big move.

"He came across to me and my mum and said 'we know a lot of clubs want you. If you leave Rovers, we'll take you to these clubs and you'll be signed in no time'," Freckleton says.

"We had a meeting and I left them."

The teenager had a £50,000 compensation fee on his head.

"Me and my mum being naive, we [thought] we're going to be sorted because I'm going to Wolves or wherever."

After a couple of trial sessions at Wolves coincided with Freckleton falling ill, he was left without a club.

He says he was "kind of left with nothing" - and he could see the compensation factor was likely to be off-putting.

"You're not really going to pay that money for a kid."

Freckleton was in limbo and ended up at the Bristol Inner City Academy and later attended South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS).

Antoine Semenyo, who is now playing at the highest level for Manchester City and is a few years older than Freckleton, also attended SGS.

Freckleton played at a good level in youth football and managed a handful of games as a teenager for local non-league side Mangotsfield United. At the time, they were in the seventh tier of English football.

"Even at that age, he was one of the tallest players, the quickest," said Matt Curry, who coached Freckleton at the Bristol Inner City Academy and is now Mangotsfield's assistant manager.

"I certainly thought he would go on to have a career in the game."

Four loans and a title, but no big breakthrough

Freckleton returned to professional football in December 2021 when he joined Sheffield United.

The defender spent three and a half years with United but did not make a first-team breakthrough.

Instead, there were four loan spells. Three came in the National League with Wealdstone, Yeovil Town and Chesterfield, prior to a full year in League Two at Swindon.

Because Wealdstone were part-time, Freckleton spent hours driving between Sheffield and London to train with both of his clubs.

That loan was cut short so he could return to the Blades - theoretically, in time to feature in the FA Cup fifth round against Tottenham.

"But my papers didn't come through. I was very annoyed. I was doing so well. But that's football," Freckleton says now.

He was loaned to Yeovil, before becoming a regular at Chesterfield as they won the National League.

His last season on Sheffield United's books was also spent elsewhere, getting his first taste of EFL football with Swindon.

"I'm always grateful for these loans, even if they're bad or good," Freckleton adds. "I would not say a bad word about any of the clubs because they've helped me in my career.

"It was difficult at Sheffield United because I did want to play for them. I thought I could have done well. But there's no regrets there because the situation I'm in now, I would prefer to be in that."

Toppling Celtic for the first time

When Sheffield United sacked manager Chris Wilder and appointed Ruben Selles in June 2025, Freckleton hoped his fortunes might change for the better at Bramall Lane.

Instead, as Freckleton remembers it, Selles was quick to tell the defender he was not in his plans.

Freckleton's mindset was clear: "I'm not wanted here no more so let's find the quickest way out and let's get the show on the road."

There was interest from League One, but St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson was "very persuasive, but also very real" and convinced Freckleton to head to Scotland.

"I went in and we played Celtic for the first game of the season. We ended up losing 1-0, but it was like, 'wow, I need to be a part of this'," Freckleton recalls.

"It was just a crazy experience of 65,000 fans in there. It was packed, everyone singing."

As well as reaching the Scottish Cup semi-finals, St Mirren won the Scottish League Cup. They met Celtic in their last match in both competitions, winning 3-1 in the League Cup final last December.

"I think winning the trophy was definitely the best feeling I've had on the pitch," Freckleton says.

"We really were underdogs. To experience it and then also come out on top against Celtic in a final was just so surreal."

Living a Champions League dream

Freckleton had the winning feeling against Celtic for his new club, too, at the start of this campaign.

Two days after that historic comeback against Martin O'Neill's Glasgow giants, LASK's players and staff gathered to discover which eight teams they would face as their reward.

"The first draw was Real Madrid and then we got drew as the first team against them," says Freckleton, who joined LASK in July.

"I was just like, 'that's completed now. If I can go to the Bernabeu, wow'."

LASK have already faced AEK Athens, Liverpool and Sporting, while the Austrian newcomers have meetings with Bodo/Glimt, Fenerbahce, Porto and Real to look forward to.

"We've got some good games coming up," says Freckleton, who grew up as a Manchester United supporter.

"I'm just trying to take it in. Also, just understand that this is the reality and I'm a part of it."

Freckleton has been an unused substitute in LASK's three league phase matches so far. He hopes that run ends against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday.

Stepping on to the international stage

It has been some year for Freckleton, who has also become an international player.

The left-footed versatile defender won his first three caps for Jamaica during the September/October international break.

Freckleton is half Jamaican through his father and had started the process of gaining full citizenship almost a year before being called up.

Making his debut as a substitute against Honduras, Freckleton then started, provided an assist and played the duration in each of Jamaica's subsequent wins over El Salvador and Honduras.

It was his first time returning to Jamaica for a decade.

He could call on fond memories of summers spent there during Olympic years, watching on television as national hero Usain Bolt starred at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

"I was raring to just show the country - my country - my ability," Freckleton explains.

"I wanted to just help my country win, because I realised how important football was and how different it is when you play for your country compared to club. It's just such a bigger scale. I know Jamaica's small, but it's still such a big thing out there."

Inked into his diary is a Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Mexico over two legs later this month.

Jamaica, like LASK's home in the Austrian city of Linz, is a long way away from Freckleton's beginnings at the Bristol Inner City Academy and SGS College.

"It just proves there's no one way that works," Freckleton's former coach Curry says.

"If you're the right character and you've got the right aptitude, then you'll have a chance of making it."

Related topics

Football

UEFA Champions League

Celtic

St Mirren

Sheffield United

Chesterfield

Wealdstone

Yeovil Town

Swindon Town

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