Former Maidstone winger Blair Turgott could be playing Champions League football next season after title glory in Sweden.

Turgott, relegated from the National League with the Stones less than four years ago, helped unfashionable BK Hacken land their first-ever Allsvenskan crown. Last season, they finished 12th.

The Gothenburg-based club will go into next season’s Champions League first qualifying round, with a genuine chance of mixing with Europe’s elite in the group stages.

Indeed, compatriots Malmo - European Cup runners-up to Nottingham Forest in 1979 - were there as recently as last season.

Even if Hacken miss out, Turgott could still find himself in either the Europa League or Conference League.

“This is the reason I came to this club,” said Turgott, 28, who joined Hacken after three years with Ostersunds ended in relegation last season.

“I wanted to win titles, I wanted to play in Europe, I wanted to challenge myself.

“To say I’ve come out to a new country and won a title with a team that’s never done it before, it’s been really good.

“Some people go through their career, and they’ve had a great career, but they don’t experience that feeling of lifting a trophy.

“That’s what inspired me. I wanted to win something and I felt like this was the perfect place.

“I played against Hacken last season and they really wanted me. Thankfully, it worked out.

“When I signed in May I hoped we would win the league but nothing’s certain, and six months later it happened.

“I’ve played international football for Jamaica and hopefully I can play Champions League football or Europa League and keep trying to win some more titles.

“No one expected us to do it. People thought the wheels could come off but we beat all the big teams and we deserved to win the league. It’s similar to Leicester winning the Premier League.

“Everyone knew they were a good side but nobody expected them to finish the job.

“For us to do it this season was massive for Sweden and for the club.

“It’s quite a big story in Sweden because it’s never been done before.”

Turgott signed for Hacken after starring in a relegated Ostersunds team.

He made 23 appearances, scoring a brilliant opener as they won 4-0 at the home of rivals and 18-time champions Gothenburg to clinch the title.

Turgott, whose dad Bobby flew out to watch the game, said: “It was an amazing season and that was the icing on the cake, to score and my dad to be there.

“It was mad, that feeling of winning the league, and to do it at the rivals’ stadium.

“I think there were 20,000 there. It was a full stadium. We brought 3,000 fans, or something like that. It was mad.

“Even leading up to the game, you walk around the city centre and that derby feeling is there, buzzing around, and it was perfect to top it off with the win.

“Gothenburg is the big team. If you walk around the city, it’s all Gothenburg fans really.

“It’s crazy because that winning feeling is something that’s unmatched.

“We went to Malmo and won, we went to Gothenburg and won, we went to Djurgarden and won. We lost two games the whole season.

“That feeling of being in a winning dressing room is something you can’t replicate anywhere else, so I feel it was perfect for me.

“I got relegated with Maidstone, I got relegated with Ostersunds, and it’s weird because you have this feeling that, personally, you’ve had a good season but that’s on your CV.

“You almost want to undo it. To say I’ve gone to a new team where I’ve fitted in and contributed to winning the league is an amazing feeling. It’s more special to win abroad.

“To win the Premier League and maybe the Championship would be amazing, because I was born in England, but to go abroad and have to come out of your comfort zone, it’s amazing.

“When my dad came to watch, the fans started singing a song they have for me.

"It's amazing to have that in England but to go to another country and to have that love from the fans, it’s something that’s really special.

"Especially because you’ve come out of your comfort zone, you’ve tried something new, you’ve come to a new culture.

"Where I was before, at Ostersunds, it was like a small town. I had my wife and my little girl with me, so it was nice to have that family life.

"Where I am now, in Gothenburg, it’s more of a city, it’s similar to London life but still the Swedish culture, which is something I’ve taken to.

"It’s really nice. It’s a nice place in the world for my little one to grow up and for me to start a new journey."

Turgott has retained links to Maidstone via his Shooting Talent Sports after-school club, based at Archbishop Courtenay in Tovil.

He set up STS while recovering from a knee injury and has kept it going from Sweden.

"That’s my sense of giving back to Maidstone as a community," said Turgott.

"If I was in England, we probably would have extended and gone who knows where?

"It’s been good to keep it running. The school’s been great and when I came back I went to visit and see the kids.

"Next year, I’m going to do half-term camps religiously - I'll be there for the one in February before my season starts - so we can keep getting kids involved and spreading the word.

"My story as well just gives these young kids so much hope because I was relegated a year ago and this year I won the league.

"Three years ago I was at Maidstone and to see the journey of football, sometimes it takes you on many twists and turns but you just have to keep going with it.

"If you keep giving 100%, your rewards will come and that’s what I tell the kids.

"Whoever they take motivation from, whether it’s me or someone else, I just try to do my bit to be a leader and a role model.

"Sometimes, all you need is a bit of inspiration to keep going and keep pushing on."