Teenage love affair with FA Cup shows no sign of ending for QPR star Luke Freeman

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The FA Cup will always hold a special place in Luke Freeman’s heart. It was 11 years ago — when he was just 15 years and 223 days old — that he made his debut in the competition and, in doing so, became the youngest player ever to appear in the FA Cup’s main draw.

Freeman, now 26, admits it was a surreal experience for someone so young and only now does he appreciate the record he still holds.

On the Friday before his FA Cup bow, he was at school preparing for his GCSE mocks, but come the Saturday he was coming off the bench to play the last seven minutes of Gillingham’s first-round defeat to Barnet.

Looking back now, the midfielder confesses it was a crazy time in his life and, thankfully, his preparations for QPR’s FA Cup clash against Watford tonight have not involved studying textbooks.

“It was funny because I was so young at the time that I was too young to really take it in. I was in and out of school and it was certainly a crazy time for a young 15-year-old. The day before, I was in school and then on the Saturday it was just a case of turn up, get the coach and go play a game.

“It is only as I’ve got older, you look back and realise it is a great achievement. It is something I’m really proud of.”

Because of his appearance at such a tender age, Freeman suddenly caught the attention of a lot of clubs and in January 2008, two months after his historic debut, he signed for Arsenal. The midfielder joined a talented crop of youngsters, such as Jack Wilshere, and together they won the FA Youth Cup in 2009.

For a boyhood Arsenal fan, it was a dream move. Freeman had spent his youth idolising ‘The Invincibles’ team of 2003-04, who went the whole Premier League season unbeaten.

(Rex Features)

The likes of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires were his heroes growing up and now he was going to follow in their footsteps. However, that feeling of excitement gradually turned to one of frustration as he struggled to break into the Arsenal first team.

“Every player felt like they deserved to have a spot on the bench in the Carling Cup or whatever it was back then, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Freeman says. “I wouldn’t say I lost faith, but like I say it was frustrating.

“I think because I had that taste of first-team football at such an early stage, I was desperate to get back out on loan and play in front of fans and in stadiums.”

Freeman got his wish and was sent on loan by Arsenal to both Yeovil and Stevenage, before eventually joining the latter permanently in January 2012.

It was, in his own words, a gamble to leave a Premier League club for a team in League One, but he simply wanted to play. Freeman had made a similar decision when he was 11, returning to Sunday League football after Charlton had released him because he was too small.

Fast forward to the present day and the midfielder has played more than 300 professional games, but he does not regret the four years at Arsenal, where he failed to make a single senior appearance.

(Action Images)

“Arsenal made me the player that I am,” Freeman says. “Before I went there I was more of a street footballer really and they made me a lot more technical and, like I say, the player I am today.

“There are always ‘What ifs’. What if I went to another club, would I have played and broken through?

“You could say that about anything. But I wouldn’t have any regrets about that time.”

If Freeman had his way, he and QPR would be facing a different opponents in the fifth round tonight at Loftus Road.

“It would have been nice to play Arsenal, but there will be many years for that,” he says. “QPR are in a bit of a transitional period at the moment, but we feel like if we can keep doing what we are doing, eventually we will be where we want to be.”

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