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