From teenage limbo and Mangotsfield United to Champions League dream

In just two and a half years, Miguel Freckleton has gone from non-league to Champions League and being a fully fledged international. Miguel Freckleton has played in the National League and Scottish Premiership, and now he is in the Champions League with LASK 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