DOUGIE Freedman has spoken of his regret at quitting Crystal Palace for Bolton Wanderers in 2012 as part of an Amazon Prime documentary.

The Eagles’ sporting director, who took charge of the Whites for 99 games between October 2012 and October 2014, says his experience has driven him on to make a success of his second role in South East London.

Freedman The Scot is a prominent figure in a new docu-series called ‘When Eagles Dare’, which will be released worldwide on Friday.

It charts the club’s rise from administration in 2010 to winning the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley three years later and Freedman’s shock exit to Wanderers early into their promotion-winning season is one of the key sections of the documentary.

Speaking during a retrospective interview in episode two, the 47-year-old explained: “I knew I made the wrong decision very quickly into my Bolton career, but it was a decision I made and regrettably it was the wrong decision.

“Looking back of course I wouldn’t have went, I would have stayed here and we would have had promotion (together) and it is probably one of the things that drives me on now. To make up for that disappointing decision I made.”

Wanderers went close to making the play-offs in Freedman's first season after replacing Owen Coyle, missing out on the final day by failing to beat Blackpool. Leicester City, who seized the final spot, had won the Premier League within four years.

Struggling with a diminshed budget in the years after, Freedman's spell with the Whites never managed to get momentum from there on in. And several high-profile disagreements within the dressing room left the Scot struggling to gain popularity within the club.

He left Bolton in 2014 and took up another manager's job at Nottingham Forest before moving back to Palace in 2017.

He previously had a decade of service as a player across two spells, where he scored more than 100 goals for the club, Freedman was a key figure when a consortium led by Steve Parish bought Palace in 2010.

Assistant coach at the time, the former Eagles forward played a crucial role in the initial rebuild at Selhurst Park and the five-part series provided an insight into why he is well suited to his current title as sporting director.

Freedman would step up to become manager in 2011 and remain until his Bolton departure 18 months later. During his coaching stint at Selhurst Park, his influence over signings, player contacts and managerial appointments would have served him well for his future employment.

“Dougie would be up and down the country in between games looking at players,” Parish revealed when reflecting on their first time together.

“I learnt an enormous amount from Dougie, it was a massive learning curve for both us. Going after players together, learning about the game and it was brilliant. I loved every minute of it.”

The retrospective interviews in ‘When Eagles Dare’ partly explain why Parish would have made the call to work with the club great again in 2017.

Freedman added: “Of course there was a fantastic relationship with the fans from being a player to a coach to a manager and I let myself down in the way I acted. There is no doubt and I didn’t think of the consequences.

“That weekend definitely tarnished the feelings towards myself from the last 20 years and that is what I thrive to try and make up. It has to sit with me every day but if I can forgive myself for a wrong decision, hopefully everybody else can.”