Miguel Freckleton has gone from non-league football to the Champions League in two and a half years, and the 23-year-old defender is still adjusting to the rise. The Bristol-born player, a National League winner with Chesterfield in 2024, joined Austrian champions LASK in the summer after a trophy-winning season with Scottish club St Mirren.
“It’s been crazy. It’s so hard to put into words,” Freckleton says.
The Jamaica international has made seven appearances 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.
That match reminded Freckleton of how physical the game can be at the level above. He experienced that 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 league phase draw handed LASK fixtures that include trips to face Liverpool at Anfield and Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. 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 he was 14. He chose to leave after learning of interest from Wolves and Stoke City.
He recalls an agent approaching him and his mother with a promise of a 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 carried a £50,000 compensation fee. “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, Freckleton fell ill and was left without a club. He says he was “kind of left with nothing,” and he could see the compensation fee would likely put clubs off. “You’re not really going to pay that money for a kid.”
Freckleton spent time in limbo before attending the Bristol Inner City Academy and later South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS). Antoine Semenyo, now playing at the highest level for Manchester City, also attended SGS.
As a teenager, Freckleton played at a good level in youth football and managed a handful of games for local non-league side Mangotsfield United, then 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. He spent three and a half years at Bramall Lane but did not make a first-team breakthrough.
Instead, he went on four loan spells. Three came in the National League with Wealdstone, Yeovil Town and Chesterfield, and the fourth was 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 clubs.
One loan ended early so he could return to the Blades 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 then joined Yeovil and became a regular at Chesterfield as they won the National League.
“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 would improve. Instead, he says Selles quickly told him he was not in his plans.
“I’m not wanted here no more so let’s find the quickest way out and let’s get the show on the road,” was Freckleton’s mindset.
League One clubs showed interest, but St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson was “very persuasive, but also very real” and convinced Freckleton to move 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.”
St Mirren reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals and won the Scottish League Cup. They met Celtic in their final 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 has already tasted a big win over Celtic with his new club. Two days after LASK’s historic comeback against Martin O’Neill’s Glasgow giants, the players and staff learned which eight teams they would face in the league phase.
“The first draw was Real Madrid and then we got drew as the first team against them,” says Freckleton. “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. They still have meetings with Bodo/Glimt, Fenerbahce, Porto and Real Madrid to come.
“We’ve got some good games coming up,” says Freckleton, who grew up supporting Manchester United. “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
This has been a big 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. He had started the process of gaining full citizenship almost a year before he was called up.
He made his debut as a substitute against Honduras, then started, provided an assist and played the full match in each of Jamaica’s subsequent wins over El Salvador and Honduras. It was his first return to Jamaica in a decade.
He recalls 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.”
Next, Freckleton has a Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Mexico, played over two legs later this month.
Jamaica and LASK’s home in the Austrian city of Linz are a long way from where Freckleton started at the Bristol Inner City Academy and SGS College.
“It just proves there’s no one way that works,” Curry says. “If you’re the right character and you’ve got the right aptitude, then you’ll have a chance of making it.”